


Primrose

by Sugamama-sama (landiddy)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, I meander a lot in my self indulgance, Implied Relationships, M/M, We've got mostly flagship couples here, blood and biting because vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-07-29 12:07:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7683964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/landiddy/pseuds/Sugamama-sama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After making a routine stop at his favorite flower shop, Sugawara Koushi finds himself agreeing to go on a date with his favorite florist. He's a little concerned about Daichi possibly finding out he's a vampire though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Aster

**Author's Note:**

  * For [m1nt_yoongi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/m1nt_yoongi/gifts).



> This is technically my first Haikyuu fic? Birthed from headcanons and general yelling with my buddy [PrincessDaichi.](http://archiveofourown.org/users/princessdaichi)  
> 

When the rain started, Suga took it as the first sign to a great day. He hated having to be chauffeured around, especially since he was perfectly capable of driving himself. The light shower gave him the protection needed to send off his driver, and he was free to stroll down the street with his parasol. It wasn’t really meant for the rain, being made of a delicate lace, but Suga did not let it bother him. It was merely a precaution, a backup plan in case the light drizzle and cloud cover let up. At the very worst, he could always hail his car again.

That was to be worried about later, however. At present, he had a shop to visit. His favorite shop in fact, and not even for their wares. Certainly, the first time he’d stopped in at the little florist’s, it was to inspect what they had to offer, wanting to send a bouquet to his mother for a special day. 

The young man who had helped him was who left the impression, though. He was polite and gentle, and his words had a softness that carried through every syllable. He spoke as if the different flowers were actually his own children whom he had the great pleasure of showing off to anyone who was interested or willing to listen. 

And he’d given Suga a white carnation free of charge, citing it as a good luck gift in the language of flowers. It seemed like such a vague attachment that he had to ask if it meant anything else, and he felt blossoms blooming in his very soul at the rosy tint the other man’s cheeks took. 

“Sweet and lovely,” he’d said. “A pure kind of innocence.” 

Since that day, Suga made it a point to visit once a week, or whenever the weather best suited, to get a quick lesson. And every visit net him a flower, along with its meaning, paid for of course by his new friend.

Sawamura was his name, but he preferred to be called Daichi. As uncomfortable as it made him, Suga respected his wishes to that end. His work around was just not to announce himself upon his arrival; something that the other shopkeep had no problem doing for him. 

“Hey, Daichi~!” the tawny haired man called after catching sight of the monochrome weirdo at the desk. He had a box of bulbs that couldn’t be put down, and didn’t have the time to actually seek his friend out. “Your goth bud with the capelet is here!”

The theatrics that ensued made Suga giggle, the sound light and crisp as if it were a frosty winter morning rather than a wet summer afternoon. He could only assume the soft crunching noises growing steadily closer were proof of Daichi’s approach. “Thank you Oikawa,” he sighed, as he removed his gloves. “Does it still count as gothic if I’m wearing white though?”

“When it’s covered by a black tarp?” Oikawa asked, perfectly arched eyebrow raised just a little too high to still be polite. The once over was what put him just past snide. “Yes.”

Suga simply smiled and gave him a little nod. “Duly noted, thank you.” He kept a quiet chuckle to himself when he was ‘yeah, whatever’d by Oikawa and left alone at the reception desk. Those moments by himself were spent looking over the arrangements waiting for pick up behind the counter. There were always so many different kinds just put together in a mishmash of clashing colors that still managed to be lovely. Delightful though it was, it paled in comparison to Daichi’s inevitable emergence.

He showed up looking haggard yet resilient as always. “Hi, hi… Hey, Suga,” he breathed, bracing himself against the countertop. Daichi always had an earthy tone and feel about him, but the boy was smudged all over with varying shades of dirt brown. It was too much, even for him.

“You are such a mess,” Suga chuckled as he pocketed his gloves for the time being. The days he did catch his friend, they had a tendency to talk. As such, he went so far as to hook his parasol over his belt by the handle, not wanting to hold it the entire time. “I implore you... How is it that you always manage to come out here with dirt all over your face? You’re not back there eating the flowers, are you?”

Daichi let himself chuckle, just glad his stumble wasn’t being made fun of. “No, I’m not eating them,” he sighed with a few flicks of his fingers. “Don’t even worry about that… Not driving today?” He’d lifted his chin to indicate Suga’s chest pocket where the fingers of his lace gloves flopped over.

“Not today, unfortunately,” Suga said with a light shrug. “Things get a little unpredictable in the summer; you never know~” He wasn’t really there to talk about the weather though, so he tapped at the desk with the tips of his fingers. “But we digress. Tell me, greenwitch. What are we looking at today?”

The question brought Daichi to a new state of life, a smile spreading across his dirt and dust stained cheeks in an instant. “Right! One second, let me wrap it up for you.”

Suga felt it was only proper to put up a protest, despite knowing full and well that it was all futile. “You don’t have to do that, you know,” he sighed, settling against the counter on his elbows. One hand came up to cradle his face as stray locks slipped from inside his hood to tickle at his knuckles. “I’m sure giving me all these flowers is going to start costing you a pretty penny very soon, friend.”

“Nope, nope, nope~” Daichi sang from a few displays away. Suga could see neither him nor the flowers he was tending, but the other man’s voice indicated his direction well enough. As did that soft crunching sound with every step he took. “I don’t have anyone else to give them to, and I know you’ll take care of them.”

Suga hummed, feigning some sort of disapproval. “If you say so… I can’t convince you that it’s a bad choice.” He chuckled at that, taking a few moments to observe the specimen Daichi had brought over for him. It was different from the usual delivery, a small bouquet, more or less, made of the same flower in various hues of pink and purple. They all had the same bright yellow, beaded head tying them together. “Well, they are lovely, but pray tell. What have I met?”

Daichi nodded, extending the small bouquet for Suga to take and cradle.”These are aster flowers,” he cooed. A placid expression painted his face as he swelled with an odd pride at just saying so. “They’re a summer flower so, like a lot of them, they’re a symbol of love… But mainly they signify daintiness.”

“Daintiness?” Suga repeated, a giggle teetering just on the edge of his lips. He chose to bury his nose in his new bundle of flowers to try and stop it. A smile still slipped out amongst the multicolored petals. “Do you think I’m dainty, Daichi?”

“That’s all I can think, honestly,” Daichi said with a good natured snort. He crossed his arms and dropped his weight over the counter with a satisfied grunt. It took most of his conscious mind not to just grin at the porcelain pink speckled over Suga’s cheeks. He was the cutest. “You turn me down so often.”

“Maybe I just don’t want to go out with you,” Suga suggested, a soft smirk sneaking onto his lips despite his slight embarrassment. 

Daichi shook his head all the same and closed his eyes so he wouldn’t lose his nerve. “Nope. It’s not that,” he sighed as if he were under the greatest burden of the age. “It’s the thick of summer, and you won’t join me at the beach?” 

“I burn easily~” Suga cooed, waggling his thin, pale fingers as evidence.

Daichi nodded, confirming that he knew such a thing to be true. “Yes, but you don’t want to join me for dinner and a movie either?”

“My tastes in food are very specific, I’m afraid.”

“See?”

Suga’s smile faltered as an eyebrow shot up. His head tipped to the side in confusion, hair spilling over his shoulder and neck while he tried to make sense of it. “I beg pardon?”

Daichi drew in a breath, pushing off the desk. Once he was standing at his full height again, he braced himself on both hands, holding his stance wide so he could lean in far enough to frown straight into Suga’s face. “You aren’t saying you don’t want to go out with me.”

Suga drew back, not only startled by the proximity, but also by Daichi’s claim. It wasn’t that the other man was wrong, far from it. But Suga didn’t think he was so grossly obvious either. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“You aren’t telling me that you don’t want to go out with me,” Daichi sighed, deflating just a bit as he backed off. He already felt like he was being pushy, so being in Suga’s space probably wasn’t going to make him look any better. “You just… keep being me reasons and excuses as to why you can’t? If it’s to spare my feelings, you really don’t have to do that. I’d prefer a solid no, honestly.”

Suga took a quick breath, fighting off a sneeze when his nasal passages were positively flooded with the scent of flowers and fertilizer. “Well! It’s not that… I need a reason to say yes, per se,” he stuttered, looking anywhere but at the man behind the desk. “I simply… have to take precautions, and public spaces… Don’t really lend themselves all that well.”

Daichi saw an opening, and he knew he had to dive at it, not even caring if he was rejected. A slap in the face would be fine with him so long as he couldn’t regret not asking. “How about a not public place then?”

“You are truly the master of riddles today.”

“Come to my apartment,” Daichi offered after a short chuckle. “I will make you dinner, personally attuned to your distinct needs, and we will watch movies gleaned only by your very distinguished tastes.”

Suga pressed a hand against his mouth to quiet the snort battling to break free past his lips. “Way to make a man feel like a burden.”

Daichi shook his head, lips rolled inward. They made a popping sound as he let them go to speak again. “Nah, I don’t mean to. Sorry… But really, would you come have dinner at my place? And we’ll watch a movie on the couch. It doesn’t even have to be a date, if you don’t want; I’d just like to see you outside of the flower shop,” he added, grinning from ear to ear yet again.

The offer was more than tempting, tugging and calling at Suga’s every urge and sensibility. He did really like Daichi’s company (he wouldn’t stop in at the man’s job so often if he didn’t), but he had a thing about spending too much time with the same people. It always made him a little antsy, and the anxiety it stressed wasn’t much help. Other than his drivers and members of his family, Suga didn’t have much contact with people outside of purchases and other transactions. Daichi was a siren crooning on his personal frequency though, and there was no way to turn him down with such a specific request.

With a light shrug and a dainty cough, Suga nodded. His ears were warm, and he was plagued by butterflies. But he felt good; he felt alive. “I don’t see why not... I suppose it could be a very good time.”

At first, Daichi didn’t want to believe it. He’d asked Suga out several times already and gotten one of those ‘sorry, but I can’t’ replies every time. When a recant didn’t come, he was alight with excitement, hardly able to process his luck. “Really?”

“Yes, really~”

Daichi inhaled sharply and held his breath, unsure of what to really do with it or the rush of pride and accomplishment in his chest. Eventually, he had to sigh it out in relief when Suga chuckled behind a crooked finger. “Come on, I’m excited. I’ve been trying for a while.”

Suga nodded, mirth melting away and leaving behind a soft smile. “I know you have… Trade numbers with me?”

“O-oh! Oh, yeah, absolutely… Please.” Daichi was back to stumbling over his words as he fumbled his phone from the clip on his belt and handed it over. His hands were still messed with soil and dirt, and he didn’t want to muck up Suga’s cell. He breathed out a quick thanks when he got his phone back, the small puff of air whizzing right back inside of him when he gasped. A quick flash had caught him off guard.

Suga waved his phone when he was only blinked at. “For the contact~ I sent you one to use for me. It’s my favorite.”

True enough, when the spots went away and he looked down, Daichi had a text message with an attachment. He liked to have died when he opened it up, sure he’d seen everything great in the world that God had to offer. “Is this a real portrait?”

“Clearly it’s real,” Suga said with a click of his tongue. He sent Daichi a dubious glance then, waving a hand between them. “You have a photo of it.”

“Oh! R-right… Yeah. It’s just… really nice.”

Suga rolled his eyes then. After setting his flowers down on the counter, he started getting ready to leave, pulling his gloves on one at a time. “I will be sure to tell my parents… What day did you want to do this?”

“Uh… Sunday?”

That gave Suga pause for thought. “... But don’t you worship?” he asked, nodding toward the silver chain tucked under Daichi’s collar.

“Exactly; it’s a day off.”

They both snorted, neither sure which triggered the other. Suga was the first to speak. “Forsooth… Sunday we shall, then. I will leave dinner to you, but bear in mind, I do have a garlic allergy.”

“Aww, really?? There goes any pasta…”

“Apologies,” Suga chuckled. He grabbed his flowers again and bundled them carefully in his arms. The drizzle was still falling, and it was still cloudy enough to forgo the parasol. He’d be calling back his ride in any case. “I do have complete faith in you though, Daichi. You pick me the most wonderful flowers already. Food should be cinch.”

“Y-yeah, totally…”

Suga nodded, unclear on how he was meant to follow up with that, so he didn’t. “Right and so,” he said, waving as he turned to go. “I’ll be taking my leave then. We’ll talk Saturday and figure out the rest, yes?”

“Yes!”

There was no verbal response, just another delightful nod and slice of a smile. It was more than enough for Daichi who had nearly melted against the reception desk in Suga’s wake, stunned and amazed at the exchange he actually managed to live through. He felt like he was floating and falling all at the same time, and the room just wouldn’t stay put around him.

It wasn’t until he was halfway to his knees that he realized he’d actually been pushed over and just managed to catch himself with a heavy stomp. “Oikawa!” he huffed, red with indignation as he turned on his coworker and friend. “What is your problem?”

“You’ve managed to track eggshells through the whole store?” Oikawa sniffed with an open palm. It was very obvious with all the soft crunching sounds every step Daichi took was making. “I know we wash them and all, but they’re still a pain to clean up… If you’re going to tend the roses, then give it all of your attention, please.”

Daichi groaned at the reproach, unable to do anything but accept it. He clasped his hands over his face, focusing on muffling his mouth to stifle the sound. “Yeah, yeah… I know, sorry.”

“You’re so desperate.”

“I am not!”

“You’re right,” Oikawa conceded. “You’re pathetic.”

“Wow. Thank you.”

The taller of the two shrugged, not sure what the big deal was. It was true and obvious to anyone with eyes and ears that functioned at the average capacity. “I’m just saying. You could do a lot better.”

That statement alone was enough to shut Daichi down for the week, but he kept himself grounded to present reality with a hefty slap to his own chest. “What are you saying?” he gasped. “No one in their life could do better than that angel.”

“The angel in black? We call that one Death, Daichi.”

“He is just being careful.”

“Mm.” Oikawa hummed and nudged his way into the counter space, knocking Daichi a few inches to the side so he could lay a magazine out on top. He wanted to get a look at the season’s bridal arrangements while they had the downtime. “So like… is he in the mafia or…?”

More than happy to oblige his friend, Daichi sighed and let his offense go as he sidled back into place, letting their arms press against each other. He wasn’t interested in the magazine, but the skinship was nice. “Have you seen him? What makes you think mafia?”

Oikawa shrugged. He’d taken to digging around in his apron for a lollipop, staying quiet until he had it unwrapped and behind his teeth. “I don’t know,” he muttered, staring with a woefully analytical eye as he scanned through the magazine at a languid pace. “What’s he even do, right? He’s always covered up, you can’t see his face unless he takes his hood or whatever down... Someone drives him around?”

“You think he’s in the mafia… Because you don’t know what he does for a living, and he has a chauffeur??” 

“UGH. No,” Oikawa balked. “I just mean… Well if he’s not in the mafia, that means he’s doing other seedy things, right?”

Daichi rolled his eyes and decided he was going to take inventory of the arrangements they had going out that day. “Why is that right?”

“Well like… Alright either he’s in the family, or he’s a high end sex worker. It has to be one of those two things!” Oikawa gestured wildly with his hands when Daichi leveled him a look from a few displays over. “I’m serious! He comes here at any given point on any given day… He’s got no schedule. And with cash to blow!”

“What are you talking about?” Daichi snorted over his clipboard. “He doesn’t even buy anything from here.”

Oikawa frowned at that, forgetting his current tirade completely. He’d since removed his lollipop and had been holding it between his thumb and forefinger. But he took a few deliberate seconds to put it back in place between his lips, suspicion scrawled across his face. “He leaves here with flowers every time he comes, does he not?” he challenged. “Recently, tiny bouquets, too.”

Daichi stuck his bottom lip out, looking away from his friend to tackle a rather voluminous display. “Well… He doesn’t buy those, though.”

“You’re giving away flowers?? _You??_ ”

“No I… buy them for him though?”

Oikawa was only able to hold if for a grand total of three seconds before he was sputtering around a deep, nasally laugh. “Daichi, I swear, you are so… I can’t believe this,” he gasped between breaths. “You’re seriously buying that weirdo flowers every time he comes in here?”

“Just because you don’t like his fashion sense, that doesn’t make him weird, Oikawa.”

“Yes it damn well does!” They bickered that way for the rest of the afternoon, Daichi flashing red on occasion when he was called out for some seemingly innocuous behavior. He thought it was anyway, but apparently, Oikawa did not. 

All that time and effort they spent going back and forth over the rather enigmatic man of interest was spent just the same on the other end. Suga, holed up in the back of his car and then pacing around his house when he’d been dropped at home, was drowning in an insoluble sea of worry and elation over his acceptance to Daichi’s call. At this point though, he could only hope for the best and pray things turned out okay. The last thing he wanted was to lose a friend or start trouble so soon after settling down. His parents wouldn’t love the idea of him moving yet again before the year was even out.


	2. Calla Lily

Sunday had come dressed in dark, billowing storm clouds and cloaked with howling winds. Daichi hoped with all hope that it would pass, but Suga assured him he would make his call regardless of the weather. They had a date, and he was nothing if not punctual. And though the declaration did ease some of his friend’s concerns, Suga himself was a different story entirely.

There was no pacing to be done in the back of his car, so his thoughts were all that could keep him company as they quickly approached Daichi’s abode. Even his driver for the evening found it odd to be letting this young man do anything close to court him, not that the man on the other side of the window would delve into such a subject. Suga could feel it though, the uncertainty and the judgement, all of it settling heavy on his shoulders and weighing down his cloak more than the rain ever could. It was uncomfortable, and it made his chest tight with worry. 

By no means was he breaking any rules; he’d made sure of that the same night he’d accepted Daichi’s invitation. Direct word from his Sire said it was perfectly fine, so long as nothing got out. But that was what concerned Suga the most. 

He’d already gotten very comfortable removing his gloves and other protections around Daichi. Being alone with him in his home, just as dusk was falling behind the curtain of the storm no less-- that was a unnerving. Suga would just have to take his time and make sure he didn’t say or do anything too revealing. Regardless of the nature of this visit, he needed to keep his guard up. Or at the very least, make sure he wasn’t spouting off about his life.

So wrapped up was he in listing off what sort of things that entailed, Suga didn’t notice when the car stopped or when his driver came around to get his door. The sudden sound and change in pressure startled him, and he colored slightly at the rich chuckle it got from the other man.

“I don’t need that from you, Hajime,” Suga huffed. The apology was sincere yet still laced with a cajoling breath. All the same, Suga took the hand that was offered to him and stepped out carefully to avoid the puddle near the curb. His associate’s umbrella fended off the rain while he got his cloak in order for the short trek towards the door. “Your hand is always so warm. It’s odd.”

“I can’t do anything about that,” Iwaizumi said with a shrug that didn’t disturb the umbrella in his hand. It was left at that though, and he waited until Suga had drawn his hood and stepped out of his protective shelter from the storm. “Should I wait for you?”

Suga’s response was a simple nod, and he was off, a little thankful for the roar in his ears and the slight sting to his cheeks and nose as he made his way to the stoop. It sobered him up enough to remember Daichi’s apartment number and ring for the door without having to fumble over his cell phone, and he was in moments later. Trudging up the stairs in his wet boots and cloak, he kept a careful eye on the placards so he didn’t miss his landing.

The fifth floor was his designated stop, and Suga headed for the end of the long hall; the last apartment, 526, he had been told. The motion of raising his fist was daunting, but Suga pushed through and gently rapped his knuckles against the door to herald his arrival. All he could do was hold his breath and wait, ears buzzing with the surge of adrenaline that came after each approaching footstep he heard beyond the threshold. 

It all left him in a rush when the door swung open to reveal his host in decidedly modest attire, not all too different from his usual dress at the flower shop. There was Daichi in a clean white button front and dark jeans. Well, Suga could only assume it was a button front since it was covered up by an apron that had the phrase ‘I keep the best snacks under my apron’ emblazoned across the top half. It was difficult to look anywhere else.

Daichi on the other hand was at a loss. “Hey, Suga…” he breathed, trying to keep a hold on his thoughts. It wasn’t until a few seconds later that he realized the error in his omission. “O-oh! Please, come in,” he stammered, stepping to the side to allow his guest passage. Where Suga’s gaze was constantly drawn to one ridiculous spot, Daichi was having a rough time getting his to focus on any one thing; there was just so much to look at.

Once the wet travel cloak was tossed over the rack by the door, Daichi took the opportunity to investigate Suga’s attire. There was no capelet, there were no gloves… But there were new things. A black tapestry vest was buttoned over a rich, crimson colored shirt that cinched and then flared at the wrists. Delicate silver chains crossed over the front and seemed to have the same luster as the rings on his slender fingers. And his hair… Daichi could see his hair. All of it. Sure, it was mostly pulled back into a tight ponytail at the base of his skull, but there was no hood or bonnet or scarf to cover it up. Just the red ribbon that was tied into a perfect bow and matched his shirt and boots.

Suga smelled like lilac and lavender, and Daichi was ready to call it quits for this world. 

“Your pants are nice,” he breathed, managing to drag his eyes up from the man’s pinstriped backside by the time Suga was done taking in his very spacious surroundings. The sound echoed, and it looked like his guest might have had a heart attack.

“Thank you... “ Suga mumbled, eyebrows drawn together in unease. His mouth was a tight line when he turned back to Daichi. “You have no walls… And wooden floors,” he added once he looked down to start removing his shoes.

Daichi shrugged, embarrassed for the first time about his living arrangements. “Well… it’s a studio, yeah.”

Suga nodded, standing in his silk socks after leaving his wet shoes at the door. “It’s very... open,” he said, nothing but honesty in his timbre. He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket hidden by his lacy cravat and went on as he wiped the rainwater from his face. “It suits you… Smells like a rainforest in here.”

Daichi found some relief in what he was willing to take as a compliment, nerves settled down once the awkward silence had come and gone. “Thanks,” he chuckled. With a sweep of his arm, he motioned toward the couch. “Have a seat with me? Dinner still has a few more minutes.”

Daichi was glad to see there was no protest, claiming one end of the small couch for himself and leaving Suga his choice of the other two. He would be happy to admit to the swell of acceptance he felt when his friend had taken the middle spot instead of the one at the other end, but the shock took a while to wane. His excitement did not go unnoticed.

Looking down at his hands, Suga hunched his shoulders to shield himself. It did little to lessen the feeling that bored into his side however, and he had to say something. “You are staring rather intently,” he observed with a strained chuckle. “More so than usual, at the very least.”

The response was immediate, springing to Daichi’s lips as though he’d been rehearsing all his life. “I’m sorry!” he whispered and cleared his throat afterwards. Regular volume restored, he continued. “It’s just ah… Well, to be completely honest, I’ve… never seen your shoulders.”

“Astounding.”

Daichi’s grin was on him the moment he caught the first hint of a smile from Suga. “I’m serious!” he cried, turning in his seat. “They look a lot bigger with the capes… And your head is always covered. This is the first time I can actually tell how long your hair is.”

Suga pressed the tips of his fingers against his lips, a little too late to stop the soft snort. “That is not true.”

“It kind of is, Suga.”

Suga could only shake his head at first. He couldn’t believe the situation he was in. And more over, he was about to exacerbate it. The thrill alone was enough reason not to toss his reservations to the howling winds that rattled at the windows. But he did it anyway. “Well, in that case, how do I fare against your expectations?”

A second passed. And then another. On the third one, Daichi held up a finger and rose from the couch to leave Suga in a state of curiosity. He was gone, crossing the large space to where he kept his bed, and returned accompanied only by a soft crinkling sound. It took everything Suga had not to giggle when a curled white flower was offered to him over the back of the couch.

“Oh, I know this one~” he preened, taking the single flower to finger at the tapered little dip on the brim. He had always thought that they looked like they’d been poured from a pitcher and got cut short in the process. “A calla lily, yes? Lilies are my favorites.”

Daichi nodded and folded his arms along the back of the couch to support himself. “They’re a sure sign of beauty.”

“Oh, so I’m beautiful now, am I?” Suga couldn’t help but tease, setting his flower down on the coffee table. A small giggle sneaked away when he turned and saw Daichi with his chin nestled in his arms against the couch. “Just because you’ve seen my shoulders and my cowlick in all its defiant glory?”

Daichi’s snort morphed into a laugh that filled the entire apartment, warm and smooth and shattering any dour crevice that might have dared to exist in the same space. It set a rhythm in Suga’s chest as his breath picked up, feeling a little threatened by the brightness of Daichi’s smile. He was lucky enough to realize he was being spoken to and shook himself out of the stupor to catch the words.

“Suga, please,” Daichi sighed as the mirth died down. “You have always been beautiful. Lace and hoods and capes and all that~ … Besides, I honestly didn’t even notice your cowlick. It is adorable, however.”

“Truly, I thank you,” Suga cooed. He fluttered a hand to his chest to sell it as a melodramatic reaction, gaze shooting to the other side of the room lest he find himself melting into a blushing mess. The compliments weren’t new by any stretch of the word, but the way they had been delivered had him feeling some kind of way. It was too late to turn back without sacrificing the good mood or the evening though, and he was starting to dread being there. Temptation was a sweet mistress, and her call for him had never been stronger.

Thankfully, he found a brief reprieve when Daichi went to finish dinner. It was only a few minutes before he returned, but those few minutes were precious and allowed Suga to screw his head back on straight. He was back to normal when a plate was set down before him on the coffee table, accompanied by a glass of red wine.

“You’re old enough to drink, right?” Daichi asked before pouring a second one. “You’re not driving are you?”

Suga scoffed, picking up the glass with a well practiced hold. He gave it a swirl and a sniff and tossed it back with ease when he was sure it was worth the slight twang of alcohol. “I certainly am old enough, thank you. And I am not driving… Are you?”

Daichi raised an eyebrow, already seated sans the apron. His hands were clasped in front of him. “Am I…? No, I live here. I don’t have anywhere else to go after this.”

Suga shook his head, barely containing the giggle as he waved Daichi off to finish his prayers. As soon as there was a forkful of chicken piccata stuffed in his mouth, Suga pressed on with his question. “How old are you?”

Daichi hummed, hemming and hawing for time as he scrolled through the list of movies available on his television. “Twenty-three,” he said, clear of food. He started _Hitch_ starring Will Smith and set the remote down. “You?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“Oh, really?” Daichi turned to eye his date (he was going to call it a date unless Suga objected) carefully. “You look younger… Like twenty-two at the most. Definitely not close to thirty.”

Suga nodded, biting his lip as he cut into his food. “I get that a lot… And I don’t smell any garlic~ Good on you, sir.”

“Like I would really overlook an allergy.” 

They chatted back and forth over mundane things like school and Daichi’s job, enjoying the food and movie. Most of it was Suga asking questions and then getting hit back with derivatives. Not that he minded; he wouldn’t ask a question he couldn’t answer himself. Given the situation, he had the advantage going first, and he was well aware of that fact.

When they inevitably finished their food and sat back to just watch the movie, a certain scene had Suga in giggle fits. Daichi couldn’t figure out for the life of him why it was so funny, and he had to ask. At first, the only explanation he got was a finger pointing at the tv, but Suga delivered with words soon after.

“That could have been me~!” he snickered between breaths. True enough, on screen the titular “Hitch” was showing sure signs of an allergic reaction. “Had we gone to a restaurant. Ahh~ Imagine me all blown up and blotchy like that…”

As adorable as Suga and his giggles were, Daichi couldn’t concentrate on them for the opportunity he saw instead. Seeing rarely rosy cheeks streaked with just a few tears of laughter sold him on taking a shot in the dark, worrying at his lip for just a second before lunging at it. “I’d still kiss you, even if you were all gross and swollen~”

“Oh, please!” Suga, still wet with amusement and smiling at the situation, tried to frown and failed miserably. His hands were pressed against his cheeks in an attempt to settle down as he spoke. “Why would you even kiss me in the first place? All I’ve done is come into your home and eat your food.”

Daichi bobbed his head once in a very curt nod. “You have. But I also like you. And you’re here. You’d just have to let me, is all.”

Suga hummed, massaging his cheeks slowly to work away the ache of laughter. The smile still lingered, and it stretched just a little wider when he flicked his eyes over to Daichi’s face. “I think I could do that.”

“Really…?”

“Verily~”

Permission granted, Daichi slid his palms over Suga’s hands, a little surprised at the temperature difference. “Your fingers are freezing…”

“Mhm~ Bad circulation.”

Daichi made an ‘aha’ sound and left it at that, glad to have the few extra seconds just to touch. It was a little awkward with Suga’s hands in the way of his cheeks, but contact was contact all the same. And Daichi could still pull the other man in while he leaned the rest of the way. A slight tilt was all he needed, bringing his mouth down on Suga’s with a gentle brush of lips. It was warmer than his fingers, and just as soft, giving way to Daichi’s advances in an instant.

Pulling back a moment later, Daichi assessed the scene before him. There was Suga looking perfect and sitting pretty on his couch, pale lashes long enough to brush against his cheeks in their half closed state as he silently waited for Daichi’s return. There was no fight when their hands came down, a pale and slender set of fingers cradled between rough palms and thick thumbs. There was simply an ache that hung between them, heavy and stifling with only one way to disperse it.

Suga found himself at the point of no return as he stared back at Daichi with a longing he hadn’t felt in what could have been decades, it was so heavy. Still, he had the chance to tug his hands free from a barely there hold and right himself before throwing his pleasant routine and cozy townhouse to the gales at the window. 

For all the sense in the world though, he couldn’t think about it. He couldn’t find it in him to care if he did eventually have to pack up too soon, yet again. That very night, Suga had learned how old Daichi was, what his favorite color and animal were, when his birthday was, and how he liked to take his coffee. And already he knew that Daichi was too important to be worried about being found out.

And he could do this. Suga could have this and still keep his family and life a secret even if they spent time together. Daichi didn’t need to know that he was a Vampire who was centuries old. He didn’t need to know that a Dhampir was downstairs waiting to drive him home under the order of his Sire. Daichi didn’t need to know anything about any of that. Not about his feeding schedule, not about his preferences, not about why they never saw each other on sunny days... He’d never once asked about anything that made Suga odd in their cityscape, and why would he start? Daichi simply thought Suga was a guy who liked to wear a certain kind of fashion, and he was absolutely correct. He didn’t need any more details than that, and Suga was sure he wouldn’t ask for them.

“Might I kiss you, now?” he asked, fingers curling into Daichi’s palms as anticipation ate away at him.

Daichi nodded, perhaps a second too late in his stupor. “Please.”

Before he lost the nerve, Suga followed up on Daichi’s invitation, shifting forward to form a second kiss between them. It was solid, closed at all the gaps and desperate to find any others to fill. Daichi returned it in kind, pressing back with a gentle firmness that was only matched by the way his thumbs brushed over the backs of Suga’s hands and fingers. 

Before he knew it though, those hands were gone, lost in a mass of silver hair that had been let loose by Daichi’s bidding. Suga had no qualms, letting his own hands, still warm from the contact, glide over the other man’s face and neck. He felt through short hairs, sparks of delight flying up from his fingertips with each pass. Daichi’s skin was warm enough that it almost hurt to touch, and Suga couldn’t have cared less.

He did care when something wet and fleshy pushed through his gently working lips, and Suga pulled back in an instant. There was an undeniable itch in his gums, and he pressed his fingers to his mouth in an attempt to quell it. The last thing he’d been thinking about was the chance that Daichi might try to put his tongue anywhere near his teeth. Clearly, he should have.

“I’m sorry!” 

Suga blinked and took note that Daichi was, in fact, still there. He hadn’t suddenly run off or poofed out of existence like Suga had hoped. “What?”

“I didn’t mean to-- Well… yeah, obviously I meant to… BUT…!” Daichi licked his lips, nervous and startled and not sure how to proceed. He’d obviously done something he shouldn’t have, of that much he was certain. He wasn’t sure just how severe of an offense it had been though, and it didn’t seem like Suga was going to be telling him on his own. 

In the end, he could only sigh, hunching forward to deflate. “I should have asked,” he grumbled, cheeks hot and breathing almost nonexistent. 

“Forsooth…”

“I’m sorry,” Daichi muttered again, not sure where to look. He focused on his hands, back in his lap now that Suga had pulled free of them so quickly.

It was a sticky one, but Suga considered the situation. There was nothing to be done about the ache under his teeth, and it wasn’t even close to something he wanted to risk dealing with. Common sense said that it was time for him to go right then and there, no questions, comments, or concerns.

It was strange though how Daichi didn’t offer any excuses. He didn’t blame it on the atmosphere, he didn’t blame it on the wine, he didn’t even blame it on the fact that they’d already been kissing. He was simply sitting there kicking himself and looking like he’d lost the game of life in two short seconds. 

Even if he wanted to, Suga couldn’t be mad at him if only for the true regret Daichi was radiating. It was a little uncomfortable on the couch, but Suga pushed out a quiet chuckle all the same. “Don’t look so despondent, please.”

Daichi made some sort of noise, not wanting to commit to a real response lest he make things even worse.

“I mean that~ I’m not angry,” Suga sighed as he gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. “Surprised, but that’s all.”

Again, Daichi made no effort to respond.

“Truly; I simply wasn’t ready.” Suga shrugged, watching to see if Daichi would even look at him. He didn’t even get so much as a glance. “Well, if you are going to spend the rest of your night ignoring me, then I suppose I should take my leave.”

The threat seemed to work since Daichi visibly flinched. He looked up, mostly to check and see if Suga looked resolved on that; he decided that it was a very real possibility once he got a glimpse of that dainty frown.

“Sorry--”

“Yes, I understand,” Suga interrupted. He leaned over to poke at Daichi’s chest and flipped his frown over to a smile in an instant. “You don’t have to keep apologizing. I forgive your momentary lapse in judgement.”

“O-oh. Okay,” Daichi breathed. He felt crowded, but it was better than feeling stranded with someone sitting right next to him. 

Glad to have it sorted out, Suga sat back up again. “No more kisses though,” he sighed. “I’ll have to draw a line on that one…” Thankfully, he only got a nod in response. “In that case, I really will be taking my leave, then.”

Daichi came back to life, looking horror stricken when he heard the news. “But I’m not ignoring you,” he mumbled, feeling like he’d been kicked when he was down. Lied to, even.

Suga shook his head, smile still in place as he took in Daichi’s sad countenance. “There’s the old adage, right? ‘Leave them wanting more’ is how it goes, I believe.”

“No… Please don’t do that,” Daichi groaned. He reached for Suga’s hand again and felt a quick flurry of excitement when he wasn’t just brushed off. 

“It’s getting rather late. I should go home,” Suga chuckled. He put his other hand on top of Daichi’s and gave him a gentle rub over his knuckles. “I do look forward to the next time, though?”

Just the mere suggestion of there even being a next time was enough to get Daichi back into better spirits. His nod was vigorous, and he put his other hand on top of Suga’s, making a real mound out of the pile of palms between them. “I’ll see you at the shop?” he asked, hardly able to hear himself over the pounding of his pulse in his ears.

“Of course you will,” Suga promised. He gave their hands a brief shake before daring to touch a swift peck against Daichi’s cheek. He pulled away the instant he felt a quiver in his own mouth and got to his feet even faster. “This was nice! Hopefully, the next one will last a bit longer.”

Daichi could have pouted at that, but he didn’t. A smile took him over instead as he stood up to walk Suga to the door. “And hopefully you won’t be bolting from my apartment,” he sighed. 

Suga laughed it off as he pulled his boots back on. “I already told you that it isn’t like that~ Don’t be so down on yourself, Daichi,” he chuckled. “I also have Hajime waiting downstairs. I don’t think it’s fair to leave him out there all night with no warning, do you?”

“Oh!” Even though he’d sort of guessed it, Daichi hadn’t really considered the idea that Suga might have someone waiting to drive him home. “No, no… You should definitely let him get home too.”

Suga nodded, finishing off his laces and grabbing his travel cloak. It was still a little damp, but nothing to complain about. “Exactly. Would you like to walk me down?” he asked as he tucked his hair into his hood. He couldn’t be bothered with pulling it back again and redoing the ribbon.

Daichi was happy to oblige and slipped into a pair of sneakers by the door. He stole his keys from the hook and followed Suga out to the main door to the building. It was bittersweet, being able to spend a few more minutes with his guest and then having to watch him leave, but the second peck he got-- on the lips no less-- was enough to make it all worthwhile. Daichi watched and waited until Suga was safely tucked into his car and pulling out before he turned to head back up to his apartment and clean up.

Under the shelter of tinted windows, Suga finally let himself breathe easy. He dropped the cloak and gave in to the urge to let his teeth go. It must have been a strong one since the groan he let out was loud enough to have Iwaizumi knocking on the window. 

“Alright back there?” he called, a slight jeer hidden in his tone. 

Suga just groaned again, thumbing over one of the sharp protrusions from between his lips. He’d put himself in a bad spot, going off schedule. “I’m hungry,” he admitted with a weary sigh. “Do you mind picking something up on the way home?” 

On any other day, Iwaizumi would have given him a bit of shit for such a request, but he did no such thing. He could tell Suga was a little off before he’d even stepped into the car, and there was no reason to make him feel any worse when he was so obviously off kilter. He didn’t like having strangers in his car, but he’d do it for Broodmate. 

“Just tell me where to go.”


	3. Anemone

The fickle summer storms had finally been replaced with the crisp winds of autumn a few weeks ago; the smell of cinnamon filled the air and mingled with the chatter of back to school topics and holiday ideas up and down all the city walks in the early evening. It was a chilly yet lively time of year that children used to make new friends and couples used as an excuse to stay cuddled up together. Which was why Oikawa Tooru was unsure how he came to be the person hanging around with one Sawamura Daichi and only a pumpkin spice latte to warm his hands.

He let out a miserable sigh over the top of his drink, getting down in the dumps just thinking about it. "Why are we like this?" he asked, a little too softly for it to be calling for a real response. As such, Daichi didn't give him one, which was just as well. "I should be at least spooning my evening away... It's cuffing season, you know?"

"Is it that time already?" Daichi asked through a quiet chuckle. He had a hot chocolate he'd hardly sipped at, but he was content. For as busy as the city was, it was nice to get out and sit with a friend over warm drinks in the cold weather before it got too cold to be fun. He did laugh again when Oikawa closed his eyes and nodded like he was remembering the passing of his late husband.

“You too,” Oikawa insisted with the faintest hint of a whine to his words. “You’ve actually got someone, and here you are: not drinking cocoa with your lonely bachelor of a best bud.”

Daichi hummed at that, taking the hint and sipping fondly at his drink. “Someone’s been spying~” he snickered. He waved a hand when he saw hackles going up, not wanting to get into any kind of argument. “I’m kidding, kidding… But I can’t be up Suga’s butt if he’s not around.”

Oikawa was contented by the response, but he shrugged, unsure how else to respond to it at first. He saw them together enough at the store to know that Daichi and Suga still spoke to each other and seemed to be on very good terms. He heard his fair share about nights when they got together, but rarely about when the two of them ever went out. It was almost like it didn’t happen. There wasn’t ever really any evidence either. “... You guys are a thing right? I’m not imagining that?”

“We are a thing, yes,” Daichi drawled after another warming sip of hot chocolate. “He likes to call it a courtship?”

“Ooh~ How medieval. He's like an old dandy.”

Daichi ignored him and prattled on, sure that Oikawa would enjoy the can of worms he’d opened. “I think it’s cute~” he cooed, looking at nothing as his mind started to wander a bit while he spoke. “He’s kind of skittish, but Suga really is a gentleman. He talks like a knight or a butler or something, but I’m pretty sure there’s a reason for that… And he always looks so sharp; it’s kind of amazing what he wears under those shawls and things.”

Though he’d been lusting to move on to a new topic, even Oikawa had to scrunch his nose in suspicion. Suga was a difficult concept to tackle, and usually Daichi stepped up to the defensive plate the second he smelled something unsavory. He had to be careful with his words. “You say that, but all I ever see is drapes and capes from the abyss.”

“Yeah, well, it’s different when he comes over and, you know, takes them off,” Daichi said with yet another shrug. The fact that he hadn’t tried to employ immediate evasion maneuvers let Oikawa know that he was in the clear for some light prodding.

“Yeah right,” he huffed, hamming it up to cover his tracks. “He dresses like a middle school kid who never outgrew their Hot Topic phase.”

Daichi rolled his eyes then, closing them in an attempt to shut out the inane things he was hearing. “He’s a very fashionable man,” he sniffed. “Suga wears a multitude of colors, and he always coordinates his shoes and accessories. Someone who dresses like you do wouldn't understand~”

Oikawa was careful to take deliberate sips at his drink so as not to draw unwanted suspicion from his friend across the small table. It was a big help that he could hide his face in his scarf whenever he didn’t have the straw between his lips. “I might actually believe you if I ever saw some proof, Daichi,” he sighed as he covered his mouth back up, only a little muffled. “You tell me you get together every Sunday, but I’ve never seen a single sneaky selfie.”

“Oh… Well he doesn’t like to take pictures.”

“I said sneaky!”

“YEAH. But I’m not going to sneak pictures if he doesn’t want me to, you turd,” Daichi chuckled. He took a break from his drink and just ran his finger along the brim of his cup to while the time away. “I don’t know. He says he’s grossly unphotogenic, but it’s more like he’s afraid of cameras, almost.”

Oikawa scoffed right out of his scarf and went for a swift recovery swig from his latte. “It’s probably because he’s actually a creepy old man who’s scared of technology,” he snorted. “I bet that’s why his hair is gray and he looks and talks like Jack the Ripper.”

Even when he wanted to be offended, Daichi couldn’t help but smile at that. “Really, Oikawa? Jack the Ripper?”

“Daichi open your eyes and look at him!! He is a serial killer in hiding. He’s just laying low right now.”

“Oh, no~”

“That’s why he doesn’t like pictures,” Oikawa continued, nodding along as if he were saying only the most natural of things. “The SIS has an open net for anytime his face pops up on social media. One Snapchat, and he’ll be carted off to life in prison.”

“And just how many people has he murdered?”

“Dozens.”

“Dozens, you say?” Daichi waited for Oikawa to give him a curt nod before sending back a slow one of his own. “Oh, wow… Well, Suga is the ripe old age of twenty-seven. I doubt he’s killed dozens of people.”

“It was one hell of a spree.”

“Pfft! Okay,” Daichi chuckled. He turned out from under the table so he’d have some room to cross his legs, still using the level surface to support his upper body. An elbow was all he needed to hold himself up. “I really don’t understand what you have against him.”

“Real talk?”

Never one to pass up an opportunity, Daichi beckoned Oikawa’s words with a flap of his fingers. “Shoot.”

Oikawa tongued over his lips in a brief moment of panic, but the words came out before he’d taken the time to process and polish them. Daichi was a friend-- a good friend!-- that he worried about because he liked to beat himself up over bumping into someone and was far too trusting in the ‘inherent good of humanity.’ Sometimes, Oikawa just had to make sure things were okay, and if that meant blurting out the first thing that came to mind, then so be it. “Why do you even like him?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He looked away for an instant, regret and acceptance crawling through him all at once. “It’s kind of weird, isn’t it?” Oikawa asked once he’d forced his gaze back over to Daichi. He needed to swallow the apology that leapt to his tongue at the critical gaze waiting for him there. “Before a few months ago, you guys only ever talked for like… five minutes once, maybe twice a week if you were lucky?”

“We did that for a while,” Daichi huffed. “Talking to someone isn’t like skill building. You don’t have to do it in long concentrated sessions. Five minute chunks will add up to hours, regardless of how far apart they are.”

“Sure, sure, you’re not wrong about that,” Oikawa cooed in an attempt to soothe. “But… is it just because he’s cute? He’s just some weird guy who came in, and you went ahead and gave him a free flower. Why all this? Why… date him? There must have been something you just really liked in those five minutes you kept seeing him.”

Again, Daichi felt like he should have been offended, but he couldn’t speak on Suga’s behalf. And it wasn’t like he could really explain how it felt to be enchanted by someone’s very being. Love at first sight wasn’t real; it just wasn’t. That wasn’t what had happened either, just the closest thing that he could compare it to. 

Maybe Suga did come in looking like Death’s adorable little brother, but his way of lighting up the room couldn’t be emulated. His smiles were sincere, and his voice had the perfect register to drape all of his words in a soft delightful timbre that was just as frail, just as delicate, as the lace that covered his fingers. He cared about the things people said, and he took the time to listen. Suga made sure that no breath was ever wasted on him and asked questions to prove it. He invested himself in his relationships, every conversation saddled with at least one query to build more of a rapport.

At least, Daichi thought so. Why else would five minutes alone with someone feel like an entire ethereal afternoon in Heaven? It was the only explanation; Suga was truly an angel. What else was there to say? “I just… really like him,” he chuckled with a halfhearted shrug. “I don’t know what to tell you, Oikawa.”

“He’s got to be a damn smooth talker,” Oikawa sighed. If that was as good as it was going to get, there probably wasn’t any point in asking Daichi anything else in the way of explaining himself. “Must be nice to be in love~”

Daichi did actually laugh at that, glad he’d only really been sipping at his drink lest he spit it all over himself. “I didn’t say all that,” he hummed, wiping the small drop of hot chocolate from his bottom lip. “Not that it would be a bad thing… I could see it...”

“Yeah?”

Daichi shrugged, and Oikawa hummed to himself, resigning to the fact that this wasn’t merely some fetish or infatuation. If Daichi couldn’t give real reasons for liking Suga, he probably hadn’t figured them out for himself yet. That went a long way from obsession or objectification. Reverence was a completely different matter, however.

“Maybe we should invite him next time we close up shop,” Oikawa mused. He waggled an eyebrow in his friend’s direction, comforted by the fact that he’d gotten a smile out of it. “Really though! You guys usually get together at night, right?”

Daichi went to nod, but he found himself shaking his head soon afterward. That wasn’t exactly right. “Suga lets me know when he’s free,” he admitted with an awkward shrug. “Apparently he has a schedule to keep, and it doesn’t line up with mine so well. Take this for instance. He’s busy tonight; I’m here with you.”

“Slap me conscious, I’ve been flattered silly,” Oikawa groaned. He rolled his neck in a display of disapproval, but a smirk hit him when he heard Daichi’s light chuckle at the false offense he’d taken. “I guess I might as well get to know him, is all. If you’re so lovestruck as all that, then I’d better get used to him, shouldn’t I?”

“It’s not like you’re my big brother, Oikawa,” Daichi laughed. “Besides, isn’t it a little too late to be vetting him?”

Oikawa giggled out a quiet, “Maybe,” and went back to his drink, content to enjoy the last of their time together. Daichi wasn’t much of a talker if he wasn’t being interrogated, so his feelings weren’t hurt by the silence that came as the street died down around them at their little outdoor table. The breeze was picking up, so he spent his idle moments behind his scarf to combat the short bursts of cold. It was during one such cover up that something amazing caught his eye across the way, attention tugged by a dainty jingling sound. 

It was quick. A glimpse of something that shouldn’t have been there, a thought that caught him off guard when the shadow at the edge of his field of vision disappeared. Oikawa tried to follow the mirage, but his sights had been stunned on the spot. He stared, mouth agape, as he looked on at what amounted to nothing in the end.

“Take a picture, why don’t you?”

“What?”

Daichi chuckled to himself, hot chocolate finished by then. He crossed his arms and sighed through his nose to make the most of those last few moments of cocoa goodness on his tongue. “Something seems to have caught your eye,” he explained.

“Oh… Yeah.” Oikawa muttered to himself a few times, not at all sure of what he’d seen. It was vastly different from what he was used to, after all. How could he really be sure? “Hey, you said Suga was busy tonight?”

Talk of the target of his affections had Daichi’s airy demeanor gone, and he smiled. “Sadly,” he said with what barely counted as a shrug. “I guess it’s work?”

“Ah…” 

The soft sound of intrigue gave Daichi pause for thought, and he frowned as concern trickled in at the back of his mind. “Why?”

Oikawa hummed and considered. If he was wrong, he’d just look like a jackass, but if he was right… Well, he didn’t like those odds either. “What’s he do?” he asked, wary smile hidden in his scarf. 

“I don’t know what he does, really,” Daichi sighed. “Says he’s got a delicate clientele, so I’m not really in the loop~ But what’s that got to do with anything?”

Uncomfortable though he was, Oikawa didn’t see any merit in keeping quiet. He’d want to know! Probably. He could only hem and haw for so long before it was too much though, and an irked little noise squeaked out of him. “It’s just…” He wet his lips, the anxiety a bit much to keep his lips steady. “I don’t know. Maybe I just saw him? He was with some big guy who needs to touch up on his dye job. But what do I know? I’ve never seen him without the cowl on,” he drawled with arms spread out and hunched to simulate Suga’s fashion.

That was the part that really struck Daichi. If it truly had been Suga, he definitely would have been without the pomp and circumstance Oikawa usually saw him in at the shop. The sun was nearly gone, so there would be no parasol, and the sky was clear, so there’d be no need for a cape or cloak. He’d picked up a few things spending time with Suga.

Concern was setting in fast, and Daichi turned to look over his shoulder. Of course what Oikawa had seen was already gone, but it couldn’t hurt to take a gander for himself. “Where?”

“Mm… There~” Oikawa cooed. He pointed his straw at a building. It was rather unassuming save for the shop front with _AmanTea_ painted up in simple yet inviting letters. Lace lined the windows on the inside, and a bell hovered just above the door. It swayed with every breeze, twinkling in the fading shafts of twilight that sneaked in between the buildings on their side of the street. No one was over there, but the lights were on and emitting a soft pink glow through the frosted window panes. It boasted an intricate display of flowers in delicate vases around a table set for tea.

More confused than anything else, Daichi turned back to Oikawa with an eyebrow raised. “What kind of place is that?”

“Let’s find out~” Oikawa wiggled his phone in front of him before turning it around to tap out a quick search. He did some scrolling, reading reviews that popped up under the initial results. They were all very positive; people were raving about the place. What caught his attention though was the choice in language people used to write them. 

“Oh, my~” he sighed. During their conversation, Oikawa had taken something of a liking to Suga. This affair threw it all out of the window though. “It seems to be a teashop, but I think maybe it’s a front for… an escort service?”

Daichi had never been happier to be done with a drink in his life. Even without one, he still managed to hack up a lung. His face burned with a slight indignation he knew he had no right to feel just yet though, so he held it together. “You can’t just decide that!”

“Can’t I?” Oikawa cleared his throat, challenge accepted, and began to read from some of the comments left at the guestbook. “Everyone was very kind. Our meeting was quaint, and it all felt very personal despite being the first time. _Best tea party I’ve ever had_ ,” he ended with sickeningly sweet emphasis. “Tea parties, Daichi. Who goes to a storefront place for a tea party…? He does seem like the kind of person who would have one though, doesn’t he?”

Daichi was at a loss. His thoughts raced by him at an alarming rate, and he couldn’t grasp a single one. Everything was fleeting. His heart was hammering against his ribs. His breath came short. He pulse pounded in his ears.

“Your face is red.”

The simple statement was enough to snap him out of it. Daichi tried to wave it off with a chuckle and a light shake of the head, but the effort died out immediately. “I’m not angry,” he sniffed, voice hardly above a whisper.

Oikawa shrugged, a teasing lilt on his lips. “I didn’t say you were~ Ah, but what did I tell you?” he cooed. Nothing could stop the wide smile Daichi’s incredulous look brought him. “Organized crime or…?”

“No one said he works there.”

“Would it be better if he wasn’t there for work, I wonder?”

The frown moved to Daichi’s forehead, a crease forming there as he wrinkled his nose at the thought. If it really was that kind of place, what reason did Suga have for being there? He could be meeting a friend. It could be completely innocuous even… But what if it wasn’t?

“That’s not my business, though,” he eventually decided. “You’re not even sure if it was him.”

Oikawa clicked his tongue and sat back, pulling his scarf away from his face. “You’re not going to check?” When he didn’t get a response, he shrugged. “You could call him at least~ Ask him what’s up.”

“I’m not at all surprised that you’re single,” Daichi scoffed.

Oikawa only gasped in offense. “Rude. I’m just trying to be a good friend.”

Daichi rolled his eyes. He muttered under his breath then, annoyed with where the conversation had gone. “By making me doubt him… Over nothing, by the way.”

“If it’s nothing, it shouldn’t matter~”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do,” Daichi mumbled. He got his phone out and stared out it for a while. Guilt was already eating at him, an incessant gnawing that nibbled at the apex of his heart. And still, he couldn’t stop the curiosity that burned in him. It had been a few months already; he could know what Suga did for work.

Without another word, Daichi pulled up Suga’s contact and sent a message to ask if he was busy. Not thirty seconds later, he received a response that said no and asked what was up. 

Daichi called him. It was picked up on the second ring. 

Suga’s voice came through sweet and smooth despite the tinny quality of the phone’s speaker. “ _Bonsoir,_ dove~” he hummed with the same ethereal lilt he used to initiate their personal meetings. “Is something troubling you?”

Daichi opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut short before more than a sound left him. “Actually, hold on one second? I’ll step outside.”

Despite being unseen, Daichi nodded. He shushed Oikawa with a finger to his lips as he waited, listening to the sounds that filtered through on the line. His heart leapt into his throat when he heard the jingle of a bell. A glance was enough to tell him that it was the same door he’d staked out earlier.

A little breathless, he jumped when he heard Suga’s voice so close when he was visibly across the street and down the way. “Like I said… You seem troubled. Everything okay? It’s not like you to text and call in the same instance.”

“A-ah, yeah!” Daichi hunkered down to shield himself from possibly being spotted when Oikawa whapped him for being too loud. “Sorry,” he continued with a strained chuckle. “I wanted to ask you something, but, don’t worry about. Problem resolved.”

“Oh! Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Suga sighed. “How’s your date with Oikawa going?”

Daichi cleared his throat to mask a hiccup. “It’s… going. H-how is… work?”

Suga laughed lightly at that, and Oikawa made a face when he saw the man smooth his hair back. “Ah… You know. It’s going~”

A sound of affirmation was all Daichi could offer up. It seemed to placate Suga though, and he picked up the conversation again. “Well, if that’s all there is, I do have to get ready for my next client, dear.”

“Yeah, of course. Have… have a good night,” Daichi sighed. He waited for Suga’s farewell before he ended the call. He blew out his cheeks and pushed the breath slowly. “Well, I think it’s safe to say that it was him.”

“Investigate~” Oikawa urged.

“No.”

Oikawa harrumphed, nose in the air the next instant. “Then I will investigate!”

“You will not.”

“You know, it makes sense,” Oikawa crooned, effectively ignoring his friend. “He’s got such a great face… Like a princess almost! It’s the perfect line of work. I’m sure those clothes get expensive.”

Daichi’s ears burned again, but he wouldn’t let himself get caught up in Oikawa’s goading. If this thing with Suga was going to work, they had to have faith in each other.

“I wonder why he hasn’t told you about it… Does he have a lot of secrets?” 

Even Daichi had a point where he couldn’t take it anymore. Oikawa had hit the nail on the head and driven his friend to his feet with a clamor, a harsh scraping of metal on pavement as his chair resisted the sidewalk. It wasn’t that Suga’s secrets bothered him. The way he laughed everything off though… It made Daichi feel as though he had no agency.

Like he wasn’t trusted.

He left Oikawa with the simple order not to follow, and Daichi skipped across the street to visit AmanTea. Every step was agonizing uncertainty, regret already rooted in his gut as he closed in on the door to the establishment. Hearing the bell up close reminded him why he was there, and Daichi made a beeline for the first person he saw. It was a man, a bit taller and more broadly built than he, with mismatched hair that seemed to be of Oikawa's description.

“Excuse me?” Daichi called, strolling up to him. A hand on his shoulder stopped him short, and Daichi balked, just a tad affronted. “Excuse me.”

“Desk is over there, buddy~” the man teased with a jut of his thumb. True enough, there was was another person there that he’d more or less ignored as he entered.

He was also tall, but slighter than the two of them. His hair was dark and curly, and there was an air about him that naturally repelled people. Until he made eye contact with Daichi, that was. When those eyes locked on, they did not come off. It was impossible to look away, and Daichi had lost all of his nerve in half an instant. A child towered over by a faceless authority figure in the library of life.

And it was gone just as quick. The immense relief he felt when their leer broke outweighed the dread tenfold, and Daichi had to take a breath once he was beckoned over. He cleared his throat to get the man behind the desk’s attention again. A brief glance was acknowledgement enough. “I’d like to see Suga, please.”

“I’d like to go home for the night, and yet here I am,” was the reply. Daichi went to extrapolate, but he was shushed a moment before the other man spoke again. “I don’t know what kind of place you think this is, but if you want to see anyone, you’ve got to make an appointment, sir.”

He could see the confusion on Daichi’s face, so he let out an exasperated sigh and dragged over a three-ring binder from the edge of the counter. “Take a look through here,” he sniffed. “There are larger portraits on the wall over there if you’d like a better view. We don’t drag them out and line them up though.”

Daichi had no idea what was going on, but he wasn’t really going to argue. He didn’t know how things worked, and clearly this man had some idea of the way things were supposed to work. So he took the large binder that had been offered to him and cracked it open against the desk. It was some kind of catalogue, he supposed, but the only image on any given page was a headshot. Following that were some vague biographical points and a brief biography (he supposed) of the person depicted. 

The third page in though, Daichi had to stop. It was the same photo Suga had sent him when they traded numbers, only smaller and wedged into the corner of this little selling page. He took the time to read it, silently remarking to himself over what he recognized as fact and the few things he simply didn’t recognize. Like the name.

“Uh… Angelo Corvo, then?” Daichi suggested. He didn’t know what else to do with the information. “I’d like to see him.”

“Ah, yes, Angelo~” 

Daichi was stunned, yet again, and the man seemed to take notice. The smile that spread across his face said everything. He had to know his voice sounded like honey on silk. It was a stark contrast to the vibe he gave off with a long, thin cigarette between his fingers.

“He’s very popular, as you can see,” he went on to explain. The pointed along the border of the page where several different types of star stickers were stuck along the edge. “Favorites~ Though I’ve got to say, I’m surprised. This is the first time I’ve seen your face, and you came in here making demands... Even the stalkers aren’t so bold.”

He wanted to be offended, but Daichi couldn’t find any fault in this man’s words. He’d never been in their establishment, and he did stroll in as though he had a grander purpose. He hadn’t even planned on this appointment thing; he’d just been hoping to get Suga for a few seconds.

“Oh, but I’d like to see him now, actually,” Daichi gasped when he remembered why he was even there. 

“I’m sorry, but you know what an appointment is right? You come back later, sir.”

“That’s… true, but I just need to see Suga for--”

“If you don’t want to make an appointment, I’m going to have to ask that you leave,” the man sighed. He closed the binder shut and pushed it back down to the end of the counter where it stopped a perfect inch away from the edge. “Angelo is busy with a guest at the moment. So even if I was willing to go and get him right now, I could not.”

Daichi felt like he wasn’t going to get anywhere with this stubborn ass of a person, so he conceded. “Yeah, sure, appointment,” he huffed. “Can I make that tonight?”

“One second~” The man turned to a computer screen and scrolled down a bit, reading into the schedule he had pulled up. A few moments later, he turned back to Daichi, placid smile in place. “He had a cancellation for eight o’clock. How does that sound?”

“Fantastic,” Daichi muttered. He started fishing around for his wallet when the talk of prices came up, handing over a few bills when he was asked. 

Once it was all accounted for, change returned and appointment made, Daichi was on the receiving end of that convincingly fake smile once more. “Now, in case you haven’t realized, we deal in discretion, here. So what name should I put down for you?”

“Dove is fine.”

The man nodded but said nothing as he went to work at the computer again. A few moments later, there was a whir from under the desk, and he reached down to pull out a small piece of printed card paper. It was covered in the same frilly aesthetic as the window. The time and date for his appointment were stamped in the middle along with the names Angelo Corvo and Dove.

“That’s your invitation. Please bring it with you when you come back.”

Daichi nodded and gave his thanks, involuntarily waving back when the other man by the door to the back of house gave his farewell. He was drifting through his thoughts when he pushed back outside, trying to make sense of how and why he’d just spent a good wad of money on a ‘tea party’ with his significant other.

“How’d it go?”

Daichi swore under his breath and stashed the small card behind his back as though he’d been caught stealing cookies from the jar. “I asked you to stay over there,” he stressed once he’d made Oikawa out for all the surprise. “It went fine,” he added after he relaxed.

“Hmm~? You don’t seem too fine,” Oikawa observed as they started walking down the street headed for their neighborhood to put a wrap on their night. Daichi assured him everything was just peachy though, so he dropped it. He had done enough picking and prying at Daichi and Suga and their ‘relationship’ as it was. He didn’t want to put a strain on his good graces. 

Daichi was glad for the change in subject when Oikawa started talking about the new arrangement trends he’d been seeing lately, and they talked about flowers for the trek home. As soon as Daichi dropped Oikawa outside of his apartment building, he turned heel and headed right back from the way they came. 

It was quiet finally. A time of relative silence to think to himself and make sense of what was going on. He didn’t know what Suga’s profession was, and it shouldn’t matter. He’d never asked, so why should he suddenly care? The guy up front had made such a politely big deal about being hush hush on names, so clearly it wasn’t something Suga was entirely at liberty to talk about. It was more of an omission than anything else, and even Daichi had some of those. Suga didn’t know that Daichi wanted to braid his hair, for instance. It wasn’t like they needed to tell each other everything under the sun. That was silly.

He still found himself thinking it over again and again as he made the walk back to AmanTea. By the time eight o’clock had rolled around, he’d been pacing the store front, waiting until his time on the dot. The moment the second struck, he was inside and brandishing his ticket at the desk. He was directed to the second door and let by into a long hallway. Doors lined either side, and each had a placard that was carved in delicate writing. 

His was a door with a vase of flowers in varying shades of white and purple just under the name. It said Angelo Corvo. Daichi knocked, and, though he heard the request to hold on for just a moment, he went in anyway. The confirmation that it really was Suga’s voice pulled him into action, and he couldn’t stop it.

There wasn’t too much he’d been expecting to see. Not much that could have thrown him off his game. The room was set up exactly how he’d imagined it would be. Decked out in lace and other fine materials. In the center was a table set for tea just like the window display, albeit much larger and with real drinks. The room smelled distinctly of lilac and lilies, and they were not alone.

Daichi could only watch as Suga came away from who he supposed was just another client. A woman who looked far too happy to be in Suga’s close company at this cozy tea table. She looked to be in a daze, and Suga’s countenance spoke for itself. It went from shock to indignation and back again with a touch of horror.

“O-oh… Hello, dove,” he breathed. Suga pressed the back of his fingers against his mouth, embarrassment bubbling up right beside his outrage. The new guest on his list made a bit more sense now, and he’d been caught with his pants down. He quickly finished up his meeting and escorted his lady guest to the door with a fond farewell. When she was gone, he closed the door and leaned against it for support. “What… brings you here?”

Daichi frowned, hands shoved as deep as they could go in his pockets. “Should I call you Angelo?”

Suga sounded a confused squeak, but it came down on him moments later. “Oh! No, no… You know my name; it’s fine.”

Daichi nodded, not sure what to say now that he was there. He wanted to come in guns blazing, but he felt guilty just for intruding. He’d been goaded into visiting, and now he had planted himself right in the middle of Suga’s workplace. A workplace he hadn’t even been told about. 

“Sorry,” Daichi groaned. He covered his face with his hands to try and wash of the same, but it was stuck. “I’m just kind of… You didn’t tell me about this place.”

Suga shook his head, ears burning just a bit.

“That’s okay,” Daichi sniffed, trying to look anywhere other than Suga’s face. “Can you tell me why, at least?” That would be enough. If he could just know why he wasn’t told, he’d be happy.

But Suga only shook his head again, casting his gaze down to the floor. 

“Come on,” Daichi said around a forced chuckle. “It’s not like I’m mad that I walked in and saw you macking on some woman’s neck… I just want to know why you can’t tell me, Suga.”

“I just… can’t.” Suga shrugged, tapping his fingers against the door. “I wish there was more to it, but I just can’t.” 

More than anything, it just hurt Daichi’s pride that he wasn’t even on par enough to know why he couldn’t know. He knew in his heart that just because he lived his life like an open book didn’t mean that everyone else had to, but just a little bit would have been nice. A table of contents, at the very least. But no. He got nothing and no explanation.

Daichi nodded, nibbling at his lip. He couldn’t force Suga to tell him even if he did feel like he might cry and throw up all at the same time. His eyes stung a little, but he wasn’t going to fall apart two minutes into barely talking. “You know, that’s a good pick for flowers outside your door,” he sniffed, rubbing at his nose. “You know what they are?”

“Anemones.”

“Yeah. You know what they represent?”

Suga felt a little imposed upon when the question came, but he had an answer for that one at least. “Ah… Good luck and, and rain?” he ventured. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief when Daichi nodded, but something constricted his chest and kept the anxiety shackled to his heart. “That’s what you told me when I got them… Is that right?”

“It is. There’s another meaning to them though,” Daichi explained with a somber tone that hinted at no solace. “The Greeks… They say that anemones sprang up from Aphrodite’s tears when she cried for Adonis’ death.”

Suga bit back an uncomfortable whimper as something slimy squirmed through his gut. There was a phrase on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dare speak it, lest it turn out true. There wasn’t much doubt as to what was happening, and the thought alone made him sick.

Everything had been going so well.

Suga stepped away from the door. His hands were clasped before him, resting lightly against the buckle of his belt as he moved. “Loss of love?” he asked, every word rolling out like acid, his tongue barbed wire on the roof of his mouth.

“Yeah, something like that.” Daichi raised a hand in salute and took the out that had been so graciously given to him. He was halfway out the door when he stopped and turned to Suga, a troublingly glum grin square on his lips. “Come see me when you feel like you can share, okay?”

“I won’t see you at the shop?”

Daichi shrugged, looking across the hall. “You know I’m not supposed to be up front, really.”

“Oh… I didn’t, actually.”

Daichi wanted to laugh at the irony, but it didn’t come. “Well, now you do,” he sighed. “I hope you come see me, Suga. Sorry for barging in like this… Excuse me.” And with that, he left. Angelo’s door shut soundly behind him, and Daichi was headed home for the night to wallow in his budding sorrows. Rarely did he feel betrayed, and almost always it was over something much graver. It took a lot to scorn him; misery was a different story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally two different chapters, but somewhere along the way, I decided it shouldn't be cut and so... here's this long ass chapter with bad transitions instead? I don't know, man. I never intended for any seriously supporting characters, and they just keep writing themselves in. Like Akaashi, that hypnotic jerk.


	4. Purple Hyacinth

His tea room was the same size as anyone else’s was. It was small. Not cramped, but cozy, and with room enough for three chairs at the table covered in plates and glass cloches for dessert and breads. One person was seated; Suga was busy pacing the little space that was left available. Every hurried stomp resounded under the heel of each boot as he glided back and forth with just barely enough time between steps to touch the wood flooring.

“Keep it up and you’ll take off,” Akaashi snorted over over a finger of frosting. If no one was there to enjoy the cakes and tarts available, he had no shame in doing so himself. “You shouldn’t be getting yourself so worked up, anyway. You’re behind schedule.” It was a simple observation, but true nonetheless. 

Suga couldn’t really help it though. He had this extra time since Daichi had bought the slot and decided not to use it. But it wasn’t the last one! He couldn’t leave for all the wanting in the world, and he was stuck there trying to hash out what to do. He’d invited Akaashi from the front since Bokuto could handle the door; his new guest wasn’t much help though.

Suga shook his head, pausing for just a moment to wipe the thought from his mind. “No, no,” he muttered, picking the pace back up. Everything was a mess, and none of it was staying straight in his mind. Fingering through his hair was the only real comfort he could give himself, so he did it incessantly. “Just… What should I do, Akaashi? What would you do??”

Akaashi simply shrugged, sending his feathered curls bouncing with the motion. “I’d forget about it,” he admitted around a mouthful of chocolate chip cookie. “It didn’t work out; oh well.”

“I can’t just forget about it,” Suga groaned. He nibbled at his lip softly, the tender flesh sucked between his larger teeth in an attempt to self-soothe. It helped a little. “I really do like him...”

Akaashi shrugged again. He only rolled his eyes and offered a real response when he got a pout in return for his silence. “Then date him or leave.”

Suga stopped in his tracks. The mere mention of moving again had him covering his face in preemptive despair. “I’ve been here for a year now almost… It’s too soon to be moving. Plus, I like it here!”

“I never thought the Scions of Crow were really as spoiled as everyone said...”

A look was all Suga could shoot his way at first, just a tad embarrassed by his whining. What else was he supposed to do? He did want to tell Daichi, but what would that bring? Would he even believe that in this day and age? More than likely, Daichi would just think he was off his rocker, and what good would that do anyone?

“You know we can’t tell the future right?” Akaashi called, interrupting Suga’s thoughts with his prodding. “If you keep trying to guess what’s going to happen, absolutely nothing will~”

Suga clicked his tongue and shoved an accusatory finger in his friend’s face. “Stay out of my head.”

“Hard to do that when you vomit your vibes, my friend.”

It was clear to him that Akaashi was just trying to derail the conversation and get Suga to forget about it. Not one to take lightly to being swindled, he sniffed and got things back on track. “Do you think I can tell him?”

“Suga, you can do literally anything within your physical capacity.”

“But should I tell him??”

Akaashi was fed up already. There wasn’t enough cake to keep him there for five more minutes. He pressed the pads of his fingers against his forehead to collect himself and get the words right. Order meant being believable. If he was believable, Suga was less likely to shun his advice. And that would, hopefully, get him out of the inane discussion.

With a soft breath, Akaashi sat up. He wasn’t surprised, but it did annoy him a little that Suga was just standing there waiting to hear what he had to say. “Alright... Okay,” he sighed, passing a hand through his hair. “You have three options right?”

Suga looked confused, so he explained. “You can just leave this alone and go about your life. Stop seeing him,” he suggested. It wasn’t a big shock when Suga radiated bewilderment. “Or you could not tell him and try to patch things up. That probably won’t work, so your last option is to go and tell him. Have you asked about that?”

Suga made an uncomfortable noise and tugged at the silver curl he had twisted around his finger. “I have… He says it’s been long enough now that it’s at my own discretion.”

“Wow. And you’re in here crying at me when your Sire said you can do whatever you want?”

“Permission isn’t what I’m worried about!”

“So don’t tell him.”

Suga was quiet for a moment, face pinched tight and lips pursed. “Really?”

“Look at it this way.” Akaashi held his hands out in front of him to make sure he had Suga’s attention. He was dying for a cigarette, and he wanted to get this done and over with. “You know what usually happens when one of us spills the beans? Either we get written up as liars and rejected, or things go great until someone realizes that one of us is immortal. And that is a whole new can of worms. If you tell him, there’s no going back. Try as hard as you want. You're not even good at it, but no amount of hypnosis can undo that. You’ll always be Suga the Vampire from that moment on.”

Suga nodded. There was no arguing with that. Every Vampire knew, was warned at birth, that telling someone about their condition was irrevocable. No degree of suggestion or memory altering was going to erase that fact as soon as it was revealed.

“However,” Akaashi sniffed, “if you think you can stand to stick with him for the rest of his natural life, you might as well go for it.”

“That’s… a big commitment, isn’t it?”

“You wouldn’t be so caught up on making a decision if it wasn’t, would you?” Akaashi challenged. It was time for his last cue, and he was going to sink it if it killed him. “And you wouldn’t even be entertaining the idea if you didn’t want to tell him. So just go do it.”

He got to his feet and slapped a hand against the door the instant he saw Suga make a move. Akaashi leveled him a glare, holding it shut despite the other man having a solid grip on the handle. “After you finish here. Like I said, you’re behind. I don’t need your old man breathing down my neck because you keep missing meetings at our place.”

Suga stepped back, uncurling his fingers and holding them to his chest with a wary chuckle. “Ah~ Sorry… Has he been hounding you?”

“They all hound everyone; don’t worry about that.” Since there was no threat of Suga bolting anymore, Akaashi drew up to his full height again and grabbed a handful of cookies to go. “But let’s not give him a reason, yeah?”

“Forsooth.”

Akaashi wrinkled his nose at the dated language. Suga’s giggle brought him back around. “You’re such a geezer.”

“I can’t help that~”

Akaashi simply scoffed and let himself out. He made sure to turn back and peek through the door before disappearing up front for the rest of the night though. “Hey… Just be careful when you leave, alright? It’ll be early, and I don’t need your ashes on my hands, too.”

“I will, don’t worry,” Suga said with a fond smile. Akaashi was kind of an ass, but he was always nice about it. Some hours later, he helped close up the shop and called Iwaizumi to pick him up for the drive over to Daichi’s apartment building after making a quick stop at his own place. 

It was around two o’clock in the morning when they arrived. It was nearly five when Suga was reminded that the sun would be upon them shortly, and he sent a message. 

Not surprisingly, Daichi was awake and getting ready for his morning run. He agreed to buzz Suga up, but that was all he promised for the time being. And it was enough to get Suga queasy with his hopes. Kind regards came when Iwaizumi saw him off and wished him the best of luck in whatever he was trying to do. It took Suga another ten minutes to get up the stairs and knock.

He was met with a serious obstacle when the door was opened and Daichi could only offer him a nod of recognition since his mouth was stuffed by a bagel.

“Hey,” Suga called, slight panic striking him already. He slapped his palm against the doorframe to get Daichi’s attention. “Could you invite me in, please?”

Daichi, who usually had the patience to let a child repeatedly kick his seat, was stunned. “You can’t be serious,” he managed to force out around his very dry breakfast. “You’re not a princess, Suga.”

“Yes, you are very right. And, and I know it seems rather arrogant and entitled, but honestly.”

Daichi rolled his eyes, but he waved a hand regardless, inviting the other man in with the motion. Suga wanted to be appreciative of the gesture, but that wouldn’t cut it since, in his heart, he knew he couldn’t accept such an offhanded invitation. It was a part of the second set instincts that came when he was reborn, and he couldn’t fight it. For all the want in the world he couldn’t fathom the idea of just walking in through the wide open door. 

“Daichi, please,” Suga groaned, still pressing against the frame. “You have to invite me inside. With words! Please, I want to actually talk to you. Face to face.”

“Then get in here and talk to me,” Daichi huffed. There was no malice to his words, only irritation at the fact that Suga was, in his own way, making demands at the door. 

Suga didn’t need to be told twice though, exasperation clear in the other man’s tone. Just like that, a weight was lifted from his very being, and he leapt through the door and clear into Daichi’s kitchen. Suga pushed his name out in the next instant, completely ignoring how startled his host was at how quickly he’d crossed the flat. 

So startled in fact, that he couldn’t help but utter a quick and quiet, “Christ,” under his breath. Daichi went rigid when his face was grabbed by a cold touch that felt just as soft as usual save for the fact that he couldn’t move. “Y-yeah, Suga??”

Hearing Daichi’s voice without the underlying harshness was enough to make him shudder. “Ah, dusk and dust... “

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry I sounded like a stubborn jackass out there,” Suga sighed. He groaned softly, pressing his forehead against Daichi’s. “I really can’t come inside unless I’m invited though… And this is nerve wracking… Do you know why, maybe?” He gasped then. “Can you guess? So I don’t have to say it?”

He sighed miserably when Daichi just looked back at him with a confused stare across the short distance between them. “Daichi… It’s a secret, you know?”

“Not really, no.” He shrugged then; as well as he could with the awkward grip on his cheeks. “Well… you won’t even tell me why you can’t tell me things so--”

“Yes!”

“... Yes?”

Suga shook his head lightly, feeling like he might start sweating any moment. It couldn’t happen, but the anxiety was there and throwing his wits into a blender. “It’s that,” he whispered, careful just in case there was even the slightest chance anyone else was listening. “But Daichi, listen… If I tell you, I will not ever be able to take it back. And you might not even believe me… Is it really that important to you?”

Daichi sighed softly, a bit of his resolve leaving in the wispy breath. But if they were going to be a couple, he needed to have his own rules and boundaries, too. Even if that meant getting Suga to pull back on some of his own. “It is… I know that just because I live my life like an open book doesn’t mean everyone else has to or even should, but.. I want to know that you trust me; that’s all.”

“But I might just lie to you.”

Daichi actually managed to chuckle at that. “Sweet and secretive, yes, but I don’t think you’re the lying type, Suga.”

Suga clicked his tongue as a sudden surge of adoration flood him in a matter of moments. “Oh, Daichi… My wholesome little dove… What am I going to do with you?”

“Mm…” Daichi lifted an arm and glanced down at his watch, still unable to move his head. “Hopefully tell me whatever it is you want to tell me in the next five minutes so I can still make my run?”

“Ah! Yes… yes…” Suga sighed again, brought back to reality with a sick twist of his gut. He licked his lips in anticipation, worrying gently at the bottom one with his top row of teeth. “Well… first and foremost, I promise I am of sound mind.”

Daichi snickered, holding back a laugh. “My neighbors might disagree with you seeing what time it is, but… Sure. I can believe that.”

Suga dipped his head away, throwing off his momentum to roll his eyes. He’d never really shared this particular secret with someone who wasn’t of the same make. Times where he got to experience a first were few and astronomically far between. He had been certain, just a few days before, that he only had one first left in him. And that one wasn’t ever going to happen.

He blew a quick puff of breath, steadying his nerves and standing straight. Suga dropped his arms and held them at his sides. He was perfectly still except for the slight quiver of his lip. A statue presenting itself to be inspected. Suga looked off into every other direction he could, gaze zipping from point to point as different things caught his false interest. He only stopped when Daichi said he was getting dizzy watching it.

Suga nodded, settling his eyes on Daichi’s face once more. He waited until the concern melted from the other man’s features and curiosity creeped back in. “Daichi, I swear to you on my very soul, that I am a Vampire.”

He didn’t mean to, but the first thing Daichi did was straighten out and giggle. He apologized with a quick word, pressing the back of his hand against his mouth. “Sorry… You’re a what now?”

“A Vampire!” Suga had no issues stressing the point now that it was out in the open. It was a lot easier the second time around. “Born and bred of blood and ash, I swear it! The place I work at?? I don’t work there! It’s a blood bank… Or… for lack of a better word… more of a, a soup kitchen, perhaps??” 

“Right, well…” Daichi lifted a hand, shrugging with a dubious half-smile. “Last I checked, vampires aren’t born.”

He hadn’t been outright rejected, so Suga latched onto that and gripped Daichi by the front of his shirt. “Yes! Yes, you’re right! We aren’t born fully fledged Vampires! Do you know what a Dhampir is? Have you ever heard of that?? I was one of those, and then--”

“Suga. Please.” 

“Ah… Yes?”

His sigh was ragged, too haggard for a man who’d just woken up not half an hour before a man was in his kitchen area rambling about the living dead. Daichi passed a hand through his hair, giving up on the run entirely when he caught a glimpse of his watch for the second time. “You honestly expect me to believe that?” he asked. There was something in his voice. A wobble that gave away just how offended he was by the very idea that Suga might be trying to pull one over on him.

“Oh… I knew it… Ahh!” Suga griped in soft moans to himself. Swift tugs at his hair were all that kept him grounded and in the apartment. “Akaashi said you might not believe me… Ugh, I should just go home again.”

Daichi still didn’t believe this nonsense, but if Suga was so broken up about it, he must feel some sincerity. The new name stood out the most though. The only names he ever heard from Suga’s lips were Oikawa’s and some guy named Hajime who was quickly becoming what Daichi believed to be Suga’s favored chauffeur. “Akaashi?”

Suga stopped, turning back to Daichi with a dour expression. It struck a chord of familiarity that was quickly explained. “You met him last night,” Suga explained, dropping the impression. “One of the owls up front at AmanTea? He runs reception.”

“... You told him this, too?”

“Oh… He is… Perhaps the only reason I’m here?” Suga managed half a chuckle after that, shrugging as guilt started to set in. “He convinced me it was worth all of this to tell you.”

“That you are a…?”

“Yes, yes,” Suga breathed, taking hold of Daichi’s shirt again. He was careful this time, his grip easy as he stepped closer into the other man’s space. “I am a Vampire, Daichi. So is he… And the other guy. And Hajime.”

“You’re all--?” Daichi was interrupted with a curt affirmative shout. “Suga, I can’t… Who would believe that??”

Frustration was starting to eat at him listening to Daichi’s refusals, and Suga went limp at the wrists. What could he do? He’d said it three times already, and Daichi didn’t believe him. He’d even told him about what he was doing earlier that night, and still! 

No faith.

His brow furrowed, and a fat frown sat against the line of Suga’s mouth as he considered the situation. “I’m standing right in front of you, and you don’t believe it?”

“I mean… It’s not like you have any proof, Suga. And they just aren’t… real. They don’t exist.”

Never in his unnatural life had Suga scoffed at such a blatant denial of his very existence. “Proof,” he repeated, feeling around his pockets. He gasped lightly when he found his phone and produced it. He pulled up the camera and turned it on himself, sidling up to Daichi in the process. Three seconds later, he had a flash photo. A quick look confirmed his own suspicions, and Suga quickly turned the phone to show off his subpar picture.

“What am I looking for?”

“This is a photo of us, Daichi.”

Daichi cocked an eyebrow, but he looked back at the image again before sighing. He crossed his arms and leveled Suga an unamused leer. “You aren’t even in it.”

“I know that.”

“Suga--”

“But I’m supposed to be right there! Right?? Daichi, I don’t show up in photographs!”

That one, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at. “Suga I have a picture of you on my phone.”

“That’s a simulacrum!” 

Daichi couldn’t even begin to guess what that meant, so he didn’t try. “Alright, whatever it is, I have a picture of you. This could just be some weird filter.”

“I don’t have a reflection either.” 

Daichi’s shoulders went up again. “The closest thing I’ve got to a mirror is the glass door and windows, and I keep them clean, sorry.”

“Do you know why I carry a parasol?” Suga hopped on his chance to explain himself when Daichi nodded. “To avoid the sun. That’s very true. But it does something else, too. Do you know what it does? It gives me a shadow, dove. I don’t have one of those without it. Cloaks work too, if they’re big enough, but they get blown around too easily.”

Daichi sighed, sliding his hands into the pockets of his gym shorts. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this, huh? Spend all night thinking it up?” he asked with a slight nod towards the balcony. The blinds were pulled to the side and the sun could be seen crawling up over the horizon. Daichi would have to skip his run if he was going to make it to work on time.

Suga couldn’t give any less of a damn about it though. He grabbed Daichi’s hand and tugged him over to the sliding glass door. “Look, Daichi. No shadow,” he insisted, shifting his own gaze down at their feet where Daichi’s legs cast a dark recreation of his figure against the floor. Suga’s did not. He made sure to step out of the direct view of the window when he felt a warning tingle against his cheek. 

His breath came short again as he raised a hand and waggled his fingers for Daichi’s attention. “Please pay attention... I can’t do anything else to prove it, and I will only do this once,” he sighed. He pressed his palm against the glass and waited. He couldn’t ignore the tingle turned sting turned burn against his skin, though he did what he could to bear it. 

“Regardless of what you do and don’t believe, everyone knows Vampires can’t go out in the sun,” Suga sniffed through a clenched teeth and a tight jaw. “It’s not because we sparkle.” An appalling scent assaulted him moments later as a delicate wisp of smoke sifted out through his fingers. The glass gave close to no protection against the morning rays, but Suga didn’t let so much as a whimper slip out.

Daichi was reluctant to believe that any of this charade was more than that, but he hadn’t known Suga to be a magician. A little sleight of hand now and then, maybe. This was something else entirely. He got a faint whiff of an unpleasant burning, and that was enough to let him know something really was going up in smoke between Suga’s hand and the glass. 

There was no sound when Daichi tugged Suga’s hand away, though a small cloud of dust came off with it. Daichi waved it away and turned the other man’s palm over to check the damage. He wasn’t surprised when there was no blood. The strange degrading of the skin caught him off guard however. It didn’t look like any kind of injury he’d ever seen. Suga’s palm almost looked like crumpled paper someone had taken a match to.

“H-hey… Suga, what is…?” His words trailed off when he looked up expecting some kind of explanation. Suga had his other hand over his face, head cast down and shoulders hunched forward as he worked through what could have only been excruciating pain. “Suga… Are you crying?”

Suga sniffled and shook his head. He dropped his hand and shot Daichi a smile through foggy, red eyes. “I can’t cry right now, dove. I was dehydrated before this already, so… There are no tears to spill.” He sniffled again when his hand was let go, and he cradled it in the other, careful to stay behind the shelter of the wall. “Could you close that maybe?”

“O-oh! Oh, yes.” Daichi jumped to action and zipped to the other side of the sliding glass door to pull the blinds shut. He was back at Suga seconds later, holding the other man’s shoulders and dropping kisses where he could in between words. “You have a garlic allergy,” he mumbled.

“I do,” Suga sniffed.

“You hate cameras.”

“Yes.”

“You’re almost thirty and talk about your dad like he’s still taking care of you, and… and… God, you look like a Vampire, don’t you?”

Suga could only offer a meek shrug at that. “I’m from a different era… We all have our own fashion sense… I like the stuff from my original century; sue me.”

“Ha… Victorian?” 

Suga lifted his good hand and offered Daichi an OK-sign. “First born in 1806~ Oh… But these are modern, of course,” he added with the best chuckle he could manage. “I don’t still have those old rags.” When he dropped his hand, the momentum kept him going, and the only reason he didn’t hit the floor was because Daichi leaned in to catch his fall. “So fast~” 

“Suga, are you okay?” Daichi breathed. He gave in to Suga’s deadweight and just scooped him up bridal style. 

Suga nodded, trying to wave the idea away with a hand. “I’m just tired, I promise,” he admitted with a bone deep sigh. It was the breath of relief he needed, and he let himself go. His larger teeth poked out over his bottom lip, snagging slightly on the delicate skin. A tiny ‘oof’ got rid of the hang up quickly enough when he was dropped onto the bed softly.

“I didn’t know… V-vampires get tired?” Daichi felt like he’d surrendered to some conspiracy just saying the word, but the proof was right before him. “Do you need a like… you know, a uhm...??”

“Ahh… You’re so cute,” Suga chuckled. He poked at Daichi’s forehead with a single finger, smiling at the sway. “I do not need a coffin. But it would be an immense help if you had an eye mask I could use.”

Daichi had to think about it, but in the end, he remembered Oikawa leaving one from the only time he’d ever stayed over. It took a few minutes to find, and Daichi brought it back to Suga like a puppy retrieving the paper. “Hey, it doesn’t hurt, does it?” he asked, handing it over. The mask was green with several flowers embroidered on it.

“It does,” Suga sighed as he pulled the mask over his eyes. Daichi had pegged him right before; he wasn’t much of a liar. “If it’s okay with you though… I’m going to take a nap to get over it? I’m not equipped to go outside right now. Sorry…”

Daichi’s ears rang with how vigorously he shook his head. “No, no, of course. Please…” He groaned and took a seat on the bed with his hands folded in his lap. He hovered over Suga and did everything he could to keep the shame and indignation swarming around his stomach from taking him over. Thoughts could only squash so much guilt though.

“Suga--”

“No, no~ Daichi, no,” Suga cooed. He reached over and pat Daichi’s leg with fond affection. “We can do this later, okay? You have to work, and I have to sleep before I lose this hand~”

Daichi’s breath caught in his throat hearing that was even possible. The silence was enough to make Suga check, and he broke down into a weak giggle. “I’m half joking~ Go get ready for work, dove. I’ve got to sleep… And don’t peek! It’ll just creep you out…”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Suga nodded, more than happy to hear it and move on. One more thing was bothering him though, and he pat at Daichi again. “Oh, hey… When you get down there, will you tell Hajime that I’m staying, please? I don’t want to have to work the phone right now…”

“I’ll send him home, yeah.”

“Ah, no,” Suga sighed. “Don’t worry about that. He couldn’t leave, even if he wanted to.”

Daichi didn’t like that response, and it came through in his voice. “Come on, Suga… You’re going to make him stay here?”

Suga shook his head, pouting slightly as he pulled the mask back down again. “No, no… It’s not like that,” he slurred. “I promise I’ll tell you all about whatever you want when you get home. I’d really appreciate you passing the message along though, for the time being? And there’s something for you in the car~”

“For me?” Daichi perked up when the other nodded. He was a little concerned when Suga folded his hands over his chest looking like a corpse laid to rest, but he tried to put it past him. Find something else to focus on. “Suga… Your teeth are really cute.”

Suga giggled and nudged the Daichi with knee. “Go, you goose~” He even lifted the eyemask to wrinkle his nose and shoot a playful scowl at the other man. “And they’re not cute. These _fangs_ could break your neck, honest and for truly.”

Suga did, for the first time in all the time that Daichi had known him, actually look tired. On the verge of passing out, even. He could take a hint, and he did need to get changed and ready for work. A heavy sigh was all he offered along with his okay and a pat on Suga’s leg. “Sleep tight then?”

He took Suga’s hum as some kind of confirmation and got up to finish his interrupted morning routine. A quick shower and shave later, he left Suga with a kiss and was headed out the door for his walk to the flower shop. The black town car parked on the other side of the street caught his attention though, and he jogged over to knock on the tinted window. He was surprised to see it come down since the sun was already throwing a striking glare against the glass. 

Daichi had heard quite a bit about this ‘Hajime’ person, but looks were never really part of it. He seemed to be more of a gangster than a Vampire… Comparing him to Suga was like holding a grape to a watermelon.

“Did you need something, Sawamura?”

Daichi hopped back when he heard his name, and Iwaizumi chuckled to himself from inside the car. 

“I didn’t think--”

Iwaizumi waved a hand to cut the chatter. “You’ve walked him to the door enough,” he sighed, leaning through the window. “What is it?”

“O-oh, yeah! Suga asked me to let you know that he’s going to sleep over for the day?”

The playful set of Iwaizumi’s features disappeared. The thought to check his phone passed him, but if Suga was sending messages via word of mouth delivery, he doubted it would be answered. “Was he sleeping when you left?”

“Ah… Not yet, I don’t think?” Daichi wondered about that before shaking his head. “No, he wasn’t. He was awake enough to shoo me out, at least.”

Iwaizumi nodded and rolled up the window. He cut the idle on the engine and stepped out in a crisp black suit, brandishing a pair of sunglasses from his jacket pocket. He could only assume Daichi was clued in when he looked like he’d seen a ghost. “Dhampir,” he sniffed, flashing the other man a quick thumbs up. “Bright lights suck, but I won’t crumple and burn in the sun. Mind if I stay up there with him?” 

It wasn’t a request Daichi had been expecting, but it was certainly wasn’t one he could refuse, either. “Yeah! Yeah, sure, I’ll walk you up. But ah… he said there was something down here for me?”

Iwaizumi clicked his tongue and ducked inside the car to reach into the passenger seat. A soft crinkle came back with him, and he offered Daichi a small bouquet of tiny violet flowers. They fanned out like little octopuses and presented themselves in the shape of cattail reeds, cozy and content to intermingle with the other similarly colored plants. They made a strange bouquet, but Daichi got the message loud and clear. He clutched the flowers to his chest and ushered Iwaizumi to follow him back upstairs.

He didn’t bother announcing himself when he threw the door to his flat open and made a beeline for the bed. The only thing that stopped him was his name, uttered with a murderous intent he’d never once been witness to in all his days. It sent chills down his spine in droves, and he could have sworn cobwebs plagued his lungs if the crawling feeling in his chest was any indication.

Daichi took his time turning towards the door, limbs stiff and movement rigid. “Yes?” he called, the words barely louder than a breath.

Iwaizumi had since pocketed his sunglasses. He stood, straight as a post, just outside the threshold with a deathgrip on the frame and a grimace for the ages etched into the corners of his mouth. It was gone in the same instant that he heard Suga chuckle from the bed against the far wall.

“Remember your manners, dove,” he whispered. He craned his head slightly towards the door, and it all made sense to Daichi.

“Right! Right, sorry. Uhm…” Daichi did his best not to look like the frightened child he felt rearing up inside him when he spoke up again. “Won’t you… please come in, Hajime?” He didn’t like the tiny snicker he heard from the bed, or the grunt of indignation that came from the doorway.

Iwaizumi stepped inside and patted at Daichi’s shoulder with a bit more force than was necessary. “My name is Iwaizumi. Please… And I see you’re awake. Speak up sooner next time, maybe?”

“Sorry, sorry… But you don’t get to lecture me,” Suga grumbled. His eyes were still covered, but he managed to point a finger right at Iwaizumi. It shifted over to Daichi a moment later. “And you~ You are going to be very late. Oikawa won’t be happy.”

Suga’s voice was the same silky smooth velvet that it always was, and it was enough to bring Daichi back to the same excitement he’d felt upon his initial reentry. “Suga~! What is this??” he cooed taking his seat on the bed. He plopped his new bouquet on top of Suga’s arms, just in case he hadn’t caught on.

“Mm… From the sound and scent, I believe they are the flowers I got you.”

“You got me flowers!”

“Ah.” Suga lifted a finger to call for pause, a slight smile touching his lips. “Apology flowers. I remember a dashing young man telling me that violet hyacinths tell someone you are sorry?”

Daichi bit his tongue and held back on commenting how most people used the word ‘purple.’ “You don’t have to tell me sorry,” he gushed instead. “I should be sorry! Of course you couldn’t tell me something like that-- it’s a big secret right? Hard to swallow, sure, but that doesn’t change anything.”

“You really do enjoy taking the blame off of everyone’s hands~”

Daichi just shook his head. It wasn’t something to get into right then. “Where did you even get these? They’re two seasons out…” 

Suga tutted at him then, clicking his tongue three times as he wagged his finger. “Secret~” he teased. “Now go to work. We can do all of this when we’re certain you still have a job, darling.”

Iwaizumi snickered from the kitchen where he was inspecting the refrigerator, but Daichi just repeated the pet name with the same heat that rose to his cheeks. Suga was right though, and he needed to get gone before he couldn’t fudge his way out of being so late. He gave Suga one more quick peck and mumbled some goodbyes to the other man skulking around his home.

Eight minutes had gone by before Suga deemed it a fact that Daichi had officially left for the shop and called out. “Hajime~ Would you take care of the flowers, please?” he asked. He got a groan in response. “Oh hush~ He doesn’t know any better…”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, but he swiped the bouquet from Suga’s body and moved it to a pitcher he found on the dining table. “You aren’t that far behind, you know,” Iwaizumi sighed. He was still making his rounds of the place, tugging all of the blinds and curtains shut in his wake. “What did you do to need a nap so suddenly?”

“Shhh~ I’m resting, Hajime.” The scoff only made Suga chuckle. “Don’t tell daddy dearest, but I’ve touched the sun this fine morning.”

“Wow.” He’d had his suspicions, but that was a bit much. Even for Suga. “Don’t you have a good two hundred years on me? Did you grow stupid overnight?”

“Now, now, baby brother~” Despite the malintent behind Iwaizumi’s words, Suga chuckled and showed off his singed hand. “I am but a fool in love, I suppose.”


	5. Forsythia

Spending the day in Daichi's apartment went much more quickly than Suga thought it would. When he came to, regret was the first thing he felt, and his head swam with a sudden rush of pain. He sat up and hissed through his teeth, swearing under his breath as he attempted to take stock of his surroundings. It wasn't until he took the eye mask off that he was reminded why he'd even taken his considerably short nap.

The touch of fabric against his palm sent Suga reeling, doubling over the side of the bed and holding his hand between his knees. Confronting the sun had been a decidedly stupid thing to do, and he was going to pay the price, as much as he didn't want to. 

Suga took a breath to steady himself and flipped his hand over to inspect. He was ready for the worst, but it was much better than he'd expected. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but he could see that it was only because of the extensive recovery he'd undergone in his sleep. New skin covered the hole he'd burned into his palm, fresh and raw to any sensation. All he had to show for the incident was a jagged black outline surrounding the wound in the center of his hand, a reminder not to get so ahead of himself next time.

“Nice to have you back in the world of the semi-living.”

Suga's head whipped around when he heard Iwaizumi. He had been convinced that his young charge hadn't even been in the apartment. There were only two rooms with one door throughout the entire thing after all. A fraction of a second later, Suga took note that the sliding glass door to the balcony was pushed open. It was obviously an interpretation of the old ‘leave a window cracked to get back in’ bid.

Nerves back under his control, Suga nodded, rubbing at his face with his good hand. “Burn is better,” he sniffed as he held it up for the other to see. “Hurts like hell, but I can't complain about that, can I?”

“Nope,” Iwaizumi sighed as he took a seat in the chair at the foot of the bed. He held up a small cooler for Suga to take when he was ready. “Put your face on; you look terrible.”

Suga wanted to frown, but a chuckle came out instead as he took what was offered to him. “How rude… Are you saying I can't look my age and still be lovely?” he hummed, pushing open the cooler once it had been secured in his lap.

“Probably shouldn't make a habit of it, no,” Iwaizumi chuffed. “Especially since you've got some pet now who clearly doesn't know anything about anything.”

Suga snorted softly, mouth full since he'd decided to forgo the tube of convenience attached to his squishy red bag. He needed to drain at least two of the four before Daichi showed up. Once he had his teeth free of plastic, he shot a scowl Iwaizumi’s way. “He only just found out this morning~ I'm not expecting him to suddenly be an expert on all things undead.”

“It's not all things,” Iwaizumi grumbled. “It's just Vampires.”

“All things~” Suga sang in contradiction. He made Iwaizumi wait with a dumb look on his face as he downed another bag. He hummed in contentment when the pain began to subside from his hand, and he could feel the padding of flesh around his face begin to build back up. Continuing on after he’d finished, he said, “I plan on keeping him around, you know? And he’s not a pet; bite your tongue~ Besides, you yourself barely know anything about anything, my dear Hajime,” he added with a quiet chuckle. 

Iwaizumi flapped a hand at the very idea. “I know more than he does, at least,” he sniffed. “I was born into this; he just got unlucky.”

Suga frowned as he felt around his neck and jaw, debating on a third bag. He decided against it and closed the cooler. No need to look like an actual cherub. “Unlucky?” he parroted instead as he handed the cooler back. 

Iwaizumi set it down on the floor beside him, uncertainty crowding his thoughts as he toed a line he’d never before been presented with. Maybe it wasn’t in his best interest to be scolding Suga when he himself was still very much alive. It wasn’t a conversation they should be having in someone else’s home anyway. The last thing he needed was for Daichi to walk in while they were debating philosophy. 

“Nothing,” he groaned. Iwaizumi passed a hand over the back of his neck to calm himself and get the ill will out of his system. “Forget about it. Later, maybe.”

More concentrated on his regeneration, Suga didn’t waste the energy to pry. Dealing with a moody mortal wasn’t really high on his priority list at the moment. “It’s loud in here, huh?” he called in idle observation, still rubbing at his face.

Iwaizumi couldn’t help but snort. “It is… It’s like he lives in a cave almost.”

Suga joined in on the chuckles then, mood lifted by the show in camaraderie. “Yes,” he sighed. “I kind of hate it.”

“Yeah?” 

Suga nodded. He tapped at his ear afterward and shrugged. “The echo gets to be a bit much, you know? I don’t think Daichi even knows how to whisper~” 

Glad to see Iwaizumi snicker, a smile tugged at Suga, and he felt at ease once more. He made one more pass over his face, feeling refreshed as his fingers pushed up into his hair. He pulled out a few tangles and sighed in great appreciation when he felt no sting from the strands passing over his new scar.

Ignoring the strange sound they made when they came into contact, Suga pressed his hands together hearing the lock at the door as anticipation raced through him. He was awash with delight when Daichi walked in looking like he’d taken the stairs three at a time.

“Suga~” he breathed, shutting the door behind him and setting his bag on the floor. Daichi faltered when he took note of Iwaizumi scowling at the foot of the bed, but he didn’t let the other man’s presence stop his advance. “Hope you’re feeling better… It’s nice to see you up again.”

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Iwaizumi snorted.

“You are being quite the downer, tonight,” Suga chided. He had no shame in reaching over to give his young ward a light whack on the shoulder. It got him a ‘sorry’ that was barely above a mutter, but that was enough to satisfy him. 

Daichi, not so much. His brow furrowed in a mix of confusion and offense. Taking a seat on the bed, he leaned over for Iwaizumi’s attention. “What did I do??” he asked, no bite in his words. All he could remember doing was giving Suga an eyemask and a place to sleep for the day.

Iwaizumi considered his options. A spared glance at Suga told him he shouldn’t push his luck, but life was about taking chances. And really, what was the worst that could happen? A slap on the wrist, maybe. Telling Daichi would only educate him, and what was bad about that?

“You can’t put flowers on his grave like you did this morning,” he sighed.

Suga groaned and fought the urge to slump back against the bed again. Why was it so hard to get subordinates to listen to him without being a hardass? “Don’t say it like that~ I’m not dead,” he assured Daichi with a swift pat on the leg. 

“Okay, but it’s called death-sleep for a reason, Suga.” Iwaizumi could only roll his eyes at the protest he got in the form of displeased grunting. “You took a nap, whatever. Point is, Sawamura, if you lay flowers over him like that, he won’t be able to get up… It’s kind of an ‘all plants’ thing, actually, but I doubt you’re going to put a rosebush on his chest.”

“And also I was sleeping, and Hajime was here. So what difference does it make?” Suga huffed, looking to Daichi and then shifting his gaze to Iwaizumi with the question. 

Iwaizumi shot back his own grimace, though, and sat up in his chair. “Is there a reason you feel like he shouldn’t know these things?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Because it really seems like you just don’t want him to know anything about dealing with Vampires,” Iwaizumi snorted. “Seems counterintuitive to ‘keeping him around,’ like you said earlier. The hell am I supposed to do if you turn to a pile of ashes before I’m out of here? Say your boy toy did it? Pfft.”

Daichi put a hand over Suga’s when he saw the other man go to open his mouth once more. In contrast to the concerned expression he found on Suga’s face, Daichi sent him a smile before giving Iwaizumi his attention. “Would you teach me?”

Suga sucked in a breath, truly flabbergasted by the very thought. “But, Daichi--”

“If Suga isn’t going to pass on the wisdom of how to not kill him, it wouldn’t be so bad getting it from you,” Daichi continued. He pressed his palm against Suga’s face to get him to shut up when he went to whine again. “You seem very concerned about it, and you can actually hang out with me during normal waking hours.”

“Normal to you…” The face he pulled said otherwise, but after his little dig, Iwaizumi nodded. “We aren’t going to be hanging out, though. I have things I’m supposed to do.”

“Of course,” he sighed with a small smile and a shrug. Daichi hadn’t been expecting much friendliness to come with the tutoring. Not from Iwaizumi. “I just don’t want to do something potentially awful, again… So, I have a question.”

“Christ, already?”

Daichi touched a fist to his mouth to hold in a chuckle at the resistance he got from the get-go. After swallowing all mirth, he said, “I know I have to invite you guys in… What happens if I tell you to get out?”

“Then you look like a jackass,” Iwaizumi sniffed trying not to laugh. He wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a joke or not, and Daichi didn’t need to know he appreciated the humor if it wasn’t meant to be there. “We aren’t ghosts; you can’t shoo us once we get inside~”

Daichi nodded at that. “Ohh, so you’re pests. Got it.”

“Pests, he says!” 

“Suga, shh~” He chuckled softly when Suga looked away and placed a finger over his lips to signify his silence. “Second question.”

Iwaizumi felt his frown deepen, and he slouched in his seat just a bit. This was already taxing. “If I knew you’d be shooting them out quickfire, I wouldn’t have offered.”

“What’s in the cooler?”

That gave him some pause. “Oh…” Iwaizumi tapped his foot a few times in quiet debate. A quick glance at Suga said he was on his own, as did the soft chime of laughter resonating between his ears. The smirk aimed his way didn't help either, but he wasn't about to back down from such an innocuous question.

Squaring his shoulders, he explained. “A couple of bags of AB. Your little monster over here drained two just before you got in.”

“AB?”

“It's blood.”

“Oh… Well, that's kind of gross.”

The smirk died, and Suga groaned as he finally gave in, flopping back onto the bed. He could tell from that short exchange alone that things would only go downhill from then on. “This is why I don't need you worrying about anything that has to do with Vampires,” he grumbled as he threw an arm over his eyes in dismay. “Aside from our own, not many of our affairs tend to flatter an audience.”

“Mm… That may be true,” Daichi hummed. He wiggled a finger into the lip of Suga's cuff and gave it a gentle shake. “But I don’t want to be the cause of something like this again… What is this circle, a scar? Do Vampires scar?”

Suga lifted his arm away, since Daichi showed no signs of not tugging, and sighed. “Depends on what has transpired… But that is a singe, yes. It won’t go away under normal circumstances.”

“Ah.” It had been more than what Daichi was expecting, but, after seeing the location of the little mar on Suga’s otherwise perfect skin, he had been sure it came from the incident with the sun earlier. 

“Man, I don’t want to be the reason you’re getting hurt, Suga… I should at least know what’s good and bad for you! And as for the gross thing…” He stopped when a chuckle slipped out. “I was just talking about the fact that it’s sitting on my floor.”

Iwaizumi snorted before Suga got a chance to defend himself. “That is kind of gross,” he snickered behind the careful shielding of his hands. “Ah, man… You don’t even know where it came from or whose it was…! Nasty.”

“Thank you, Hajime.”

“I’m just saying; he has a right to be grossed out.”

Suga rolled his eyes and sat up, wallowing over the fact that Daichi was going to soon be very educated in everything that made them different. “Well, I doubt he’d prefer if I withered away on his bed, so enough with the jeering, please.”

A please in such a tone could only really mean he’d gotten himself into trouble, so Iwaizumi wiped away what was left of his laughter in a heartbeat. Seeing such a stark change in character so quickly, Daichi was instantly curious. He got the feeling Iwaizumi wasn’t going to be entertaining his questions for the moment, so he tapped Suga’s shoulder instead. It caught him off guard seeing the cute teeth he’d noted that morning looking rather sinister in their set, but he tried not to stare.

Even if they did look markedly larger than the last time he’d seen them. 

“Why… wither?” he asked, voice strong despite the tumbling he felt in the pit of his stomach. 

“Ah…” Suga covered his face with both hands as he thought it over. Things were already sticky, and they’d only get more convoluted if he spent his time trying to sugarcoat things or lead Daichi’s attention elsewhere. If Iwaizumi was going to be taking him under his tutelage, then Suga should at least not lie to his face. “From the sun and the sleep and this,” he sighed as he held up his bad hand once more.

“We don’t eat food, so practically all of our energy comes from feeding on blood, yes?” Suga continued when he saw Daichi nod, despite the obvious confusion written on his face. “I told you this morning that I was behind… I haven’t been sticking to my schedule these past few days, and after the incident at daybreak, I sapped everything I had left to fix this blunder.”

“The sun drains your energy?”

“Dealing with the ill effects of exposure does, yes,” Suga extrapolated. “The sun itself only does physical harm.”

“Okay.”

Suga huffed out a small breath, annoyed because he could tell Daichi had something he wanted to say. “What is it, dove?”

At first, Daichi only shrugged, not wanting to irritate Suga more than his and Iwaizumi’s banter already had. True enough there were a million questions racing through his mind, but he could wait if it meant Suga would be in a better mood. The anticipatory stare was enough to tell him otherwise, though; that holding off would only irk Suga further, so Daichi shrugged again.

“I've seen you eat a lot of food,” he mumbled. He'd been hoping maybe Suga didn't hear him, a foolish thought in retrospect.

Daichi had never been so elated to hear Suga's sweet as honey laugh trickle out from behind those fangs. 

“I guess you have, haven't you?” he sighed once he had his giggles under control. Suga rubbed away some of the ache in his cheeks as he went on. “I like eating food with you, but it's been a very long time since I've been able to digest it.”

Not liking the sound of that, Daichi reeled back and grimaced on reflex. “That sounds painful.”

“It's not! I promise it isn't,” Suga assured him with a smile and a pat. “I won't go into detail, so I hope you'll be happy knowing that it does get taken care of.”

Daichi tried to take some solace in that and nodded, taking the chance to trust Suga's obvious protection of his sensibilities. “Can I ask you something that… might be personal then?”

“Of course?” Last he'd checked, Daichi knew all of Suga's intimacies now that the secret was out. What could he possibly want to know that might be taboo?

Since he got the okay, Daichi tried to shake off his nerves and put a hand over the one on his leg. It was cold. “Uhm… Is there something wrong with me?” he asked, eyes locked on where their fingers touched.

Iwaizumi choked on his saliva from the end of the bed, but Suga was at a loss, brows furrowed in confusion at why Daichi's hand had suddenly gotten so warm over his. “What could possibly be wrong with you, dove??”

“Well…” Daichi tried to shrug, but he only managed to hike one shoulder since he was still staring at where their hands came together on his leg. He took to poking lightly at Suga's knuckles so he didn't sweat all over him. “There's got to be a reason you're still… taking blood from strangers, right?”

It was Suga's turn to reel back, and he did so in an instant, hand slapping up against his chest as he tried to catch his thoughts before they left him. Freshly fed, his cheeks turned a rosy pink as he gasped for far too long. “I beg your pardon??”

“Your ears work better than both of ours,” Iwaizumi snorted into his hands. Try as he might, the laugh came out anyway. “Tell him, Suga~”

Suga only floundered for a few more moments, groping and grasping at words until he had a reason. “It hurts!”

“No, it doesn't,” Iwaizumi immediately scoffed.

Suga grumbled in frustration, but it was short-lived, anxiety taking its place when Daichi called his name. “Yes?”

“I can do that for you, right?” he asked, pressing forward into Suga's bubble. “It doesn't kill people or turn them into Vampires, does it?”

“That's all very true,” Suga chuckled, his body not sure how to respond to the sudden onslaught of embarrassment. “But, dove, strangers don't know I'm a Vampire.”

“I know.” Daichi furrowed his brow, a frown starting to tug at the corners of his mouth. “That's why I called them strangers.”

“Well!” Suga's cheeks felt bright enough to burn, and he pressed his hands against them to keep his freshly formed face from changing colors. “Since you do know about my state of being… you'll remember.”

The outrage was enough to make Daichi chuckle. “Okay...?”

“He’s embarrassed,” Iwaizumi piped.

Daichi snickered. “I can tell.”

Suga’s voice was nearly a shriek when he cut back in. “It is embarrassing!” The only response he got was a dubious look from Daichi and Iwaizumi’s giggles from the chair. “That’s a very… Hajime, you know!” 

“Sure, but he doesn’t,” the Dhampir mused. “Sawamura doesn’t know anything about anything, you know?”

Flabbergasted at the very clear display of defiance at his unspoken request, Suga flushed, a pout leaping to his lips. It wasn’t often that things didn’t go his way or, at the very least, as planned. “It is… a very intimate moment,” he explained, staring Daichi down so he didn’t lose the nerve. “And there are… things that happen to prevent mishaps, and that might not be… great.”

It was an explanation, but it left Daichi more confused than he had been initially. “Are you trying to lie to me?”

“Trying and failing miserably,” Iwaizumi sniffed.

Suga took a breath that was too big for his body and let it out in one long expulsion. He wiped over his face, tired despite his recent feeding. He fingered at one of his fangs to keep his calm before trying again. “We are at our most vulnerable, then.”

Daichi cocked his head to the side, an eyebrow climbing to follow suit in his offended confusion. “You don’t trust me?”

“Obviously, that is not the case,” Suga scoffed. He fiddled by himself for a few more moments and then continued. “Discounting the fact that my teeth would be piercing through your flesh--” He paused when Daichi visibly paled as if he hadn’t even considered such a thing. Suga raised his other hand to pat at the air in an attempt to calm him. “It actually doesn’t hurt.”

“Oh… Good.”

“But that’s the thing,” Suga went on to sigh. “It doesn’t hurt because of the injection… It keeps prey compliant.”

“Injection?”

“... Yes.” Suga didn't see why he needed to go into detail about that bit so soon. There was no reason to if Daichi wasn't going to be on the receiving end of a bite, and Suga had no intentions of letting that happen. “Why would you want to go through that, dove? More importantly, why would I do that to you??”

Daichi shrugged, a flimsy smile all he could afford in the face of Suga’s new found determination to turn him away. “You said it doesn’t hurt, so what is there for me to worry about?” he asked. “And it sounds like, despite being super old, you’re very bad at keeping a schedule, Suga.”

Suga fluttered a hand to his chest again, taking true offense. He was starting to get annoyed with Iwaizumi’s snickering, but he couldn’t say anything about that. And it wasn’t like Daichi was wrong. “Dove--”

“What is actually the worst that could happen?” Daichi interrupted with a plea in his voice. He could see the doubt written all over Suga’s face, though, and he looked over to see if Iwaizumi could offer some assistance. All he got was a cocked eyebrow, so he knew was on his own. “It’s not painful.”

“...N-no.”

“And… it would make life a lot easier for you.”

“...Perhaps.”

Daichi pushed out a harsh breath through his nose, tired of the runaround. He reached up to place a hand on either of Suga’s cheeks, cradling his face. Resistance was expected, so he was pleasantly surprised when Suga came with the pull. The smile was inevitable, and Daichi leaned the tiny bit he needed to place a chaste kiss on the other man’s lips. 

It was the nice, simple kind of kiss that Suga had a not so secret love for. It lulled him into a false sense of security, and a shock of dread shot through him when his bottom lip was tugged, making his chest tight as he seized up. A small gasp got away from him when he was released, and Suga pressed his fingers to the abused flesh, affronted and appalled at the fiendish display.

“What was that?”

“I bit you~”

“Daichi--”

“Suga.” 

Said Vampire was visibly miffed hearing his name in such an authoritative tone, but Suga did quiet down. He simply raised an eyebrow, waiting for Daichi’s excuse for exposing him to such a sudden displeasure. 

Daichi didn’t let that get him down. Suga was still close, and Daichi slipped his arms around the other man’s shoulders to pull him into a hug. “It’s normal for couples to bite sometimes when they make out, you know~”

“You truly just don’t understand,” Suga sighed. 

“I can’t understand if you won’t tell me,” Daichi whispered into his ear. 

Iwaizumi groaned from his spot and rolled to his feet. “This is too much,” he sniffed as he lifted a hand in farewell. “I’m going to sit outside. Call me if you need me, Suga.” That said, he showed himself out to the balcony and shut the door behind him to take a seat. His phone was out in the next instant to keep himself occupied until the lovebirds were done doing whatever the hell they were going to do. It gave him a break from Suga’s silent threats too, which was nice. Very nice. He had a chance to let his hackles down and breathe easy; something that needed to be done if he was going to hold his post as Suga’s attendant. With that in mind, he shrugged his jacket and undid his tie to wait out the empty space before he was needed again.

Inside, Suga was still fighting with his own inner demons on whether or not Daichi should be able to win him over on this subject. It wasn’t the sort of thing that he could allow just because he was asked nicely.

“Can we at least try it?” Daichi asked, effectively bringing Suga out of his thoughts.

It was a little too spot on for his liking, making him just a little suspicious. “...Did you hear that?” He took Daichi’s confused look to mean that he hadn’t. “Never mind it,” he went on to sigh. “But what good is going to come of trying such a thing?”

“Come on, Suga… Just to see if it’s as terrible as you think it will be.” Daichi peppered kisses over the other man’s cheeks as he spoke, crossing his nose and touching at his lips a few times for good measure. “And if it is… I won’t ask again.”

Despite all the worry and doubt, Suga giggled, quickly melting into a mess as he always did in Daichi’s hands. “I feel like you might have your concerns in the wrong place, dove.”

“Mm… And why’s that?” Daichi asked, never stopping in his kisses. 

“Because I get the feeling that you think I’m caught up in ethics and obligations.”

“Aren’t you?”

Suga shook his head. True enough, those things did eat away at his conscience, but it was nothing like the fear he felt when he actually entertained the thought of biting Daichi with such an intent. “Though I greatly detest the idea of reducing you to a renewable food source, I don’t exactly trust myself, either.”

That was probably the last thing Daichi had been expecting. It was a hard enough stun that he stopped in his affectionate assault and pulled away to check Suga’s face for any telling signs. He didn’t see any. “Why not?” he asked, a frown creeping into his features yet again. “You’ve been doing it for a long time, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but consider with me for a moment, dove,” Suga sighed. When Daichi nodded, Suga reached up to grab his hands and hold them in his lap to keep the other’s attention. “If I bite you, in the fashion for which you’re asking, it is an exchange that goes both ways. You give me blood, and I give you an aphrodisiac.”

Daichi perked up hearing that tidbit. He could only assume that was the ‘injection’ Suga was trying so hard to dodge earlier. 

Since there was no verbal interruption, Suga pressed on, giving Daichi’s fingers a gentle squeeze as he ignored his better judgment and continued his explanation. “Normally, it is not a problem; I can turn down my clients in an instant when they get loose and touchy, but you…! Oh, Daichi,” he cooed, running his thumbs over Daichi’s knuckles. “I didn’t even plan on hugging you the first time I came here, and what happened?”

“Oh.” A warmth rose to his face, and Daichi was starting to wonder if maybe it wasn’t the best idea. Until he digested what Suga was saying. Then he was just offended. His eyebrows turned down like the corners of his mouth, and he leaned forward in a huff. “Wait, why is that a problem?”

“What do you mean?”

Daichi balked for a moment, overcoming it with a click of his tongue. “I mean what’s wrong with maybe having sex with me?”

“Oh. Well, I don’t… suppose there’s anything inherently wrong with it.” Suga tried to send Daichi a smile when the other man scoffed. “I’m just worried about accidents. Most of us are civilized creatures of society, but there are some Vampires who spend their nights as serial killers, by your standards.”

“...Meaning…?”

Suga sighed yet again, enamored yet exasperated with Daichi’s naivety. “Meaning, I’d prefer to not lose my head and end up losing you in the process.”

“But that’s not going to happen.”

“Daichi, even we can’t see the future.”

Daichi shook his head, annoyed that Suga would even assume that was what he meant. “No, I trust you~” he gushed, closing his fingers over Suga’s and effectively making the hold between them his own. “You aren’t going to suddenly turn into a monster and suck me into a raisin.”

Even though the analogy should have made him want to retch, Suga snickered. “I am already a monster, Daichi.”

“No, you aren’t.”

A tender fondness flooded Suga’s being, and he looked away as a smile sprawled across his face. “I appreciate you saying as much.”

“It’s true, Suga. You’re not a monster~” Daichi assured him. He lifted Suga’s hands to his lips, touching them together softly. “You’re just my methuselah of a boyfriend who happens to be hung up on a condition he can’t help.”

“You are so jejune,” Suga chuckled.

“And you use a lot of words I’ve never heard before.” Daichi was glad to see another bit of mirth bubble up from Suga’s chest, hoping his mood had improved even more in ways that he couldn’t see. “Seriously, though… Just try it? One time. And Iwaizumi is right outside if anything goes wrong.”

Try as he might to find an excuse, Suga was coming up short. He’d been given a free pass on most judgment calls, and he couldn't even use the importance of secrecy as a reason to avoid this one. The only thing stopping him was his own moral compass. Something Daichi was certain had been misplaced.

“Suga.”

He merely got a chirp in response. 

“I know you’re a lot older, but I’m not a baby,” Daichi grumbled. “We're both adults, and I get that you want to protect me. Because I want to do that, too; you’re not the only one who’s in love here, alright?”

Suga was taken back by that, dumbfounded save for a preloaded response for instances of grand surprise and momentum. “Is that so?”

“Forsooth~” Daichi drawled with a grin.

The tease was enough to get him laughing again, and Suga swatted at the air between them. His nerves had been calmed, and most of his concerns had been placated. “I’ll tell you what,” he breathed, the tingle of anxiety running through his fingers. He passed them through his hair momentarily to relieve it. “We can… test the waters. And if there are no mishaps, I shall consider taking you on as my designated donor. I think that's more than fair...?”

Daichi was alight with joy and anticipation in an instant. He didn’t exactly find it romantic, but Suga had put up such a fight that he couldn’t help but feel a small swell of pride at being afforded the privilege of having his way with such a sensitive matter. “Okay,” he breathed, trying not to sound too excited. “What do I do?”

“You do your very, very best not to do a single thing,” Suga chuckled. He took his hands back and scooted so that he was flush against Daichi’s side rather than cocked to face him. With a curl of his fingers, Suga asked for one of Daichi’s hands and pressed a quick kiss into his palm.

“Hold onto that for me,” whispered, closing Daichi’s fingers over the spot. The other man simply did as he was told, pretending to hold onto Suga’s kiss as if it were a tangible token of affection. Happy with the compliance, Suga slid a finger along the inside of Daichi’s forearm, barely touching his skin as he felt out his pulse. 

When he had a decent grasp of it, Suga lifted the other man’s wrist to his mouth, kissing down toward Daichi’s elbow until he reached a spot in the middle that he didn’t have to worry about making a mess. “Don’t watch, please,” he requested, feeling Daichi’s stare without having to look. 

“Sorry,” he muttered and flicked his gaze away. His stomach squirmed uncomfortably, dread radiating from a pit in his chest, but Daichi did his best to ignore it. He’d fought to have this happen, and he damn sure wasn’t about to chicken out moments before his efforts came to fruition. 

There was no stopping it when he inevitably looked again. The pinch in the center of his arm drew his attention too quickly for him to remember that he wasn’t supposed to see. The slight pain subsided immediately, though, and a warm feeling came shooting up his arm and straight into his chest, setting a stuttering pace to his heart. It was hard for Daichi to tell exactly what he was looking at, but he was convinced Suga had to be an actual angel. 

He felt warm, and his nerves buzzed excitedly from the new introduction to his system. A flurry, the likes of which he’d never felt before, coursed through him and cycled back in a matter of seconds to melt his inhibitions in a single blow. He caught Suga’s gaze when the other man took a languid lick over his wounds, and it was over. 

Spellbound wasn’t a word Daichi ever thought could describe him, and yet, there he was. Mystified, entranced, enamored. He already knew he’d been in love, but the urge to grab Suga and hold him close hadn’t been so strong since that first time they’d kissed. It was almost too much to resist, and Daichi prayed that Suga would at least hug him when he’d noticed the approach.

Hands on his face were a welcome distraction, though they heated his cheeks to just under bearable. Suga’s voice broke through the haze of longing moments later, and Daichi sighed a heavy breath.

“Snap out of it, dove~” he cooed, dropping soft pecks over Daichi’s nose and cheeks. “It’s done, already.”

Daichi let out a soft groan, surrendering under Suga’s hands. “Did I do alright?” he asked. His heart was still racing, and it was all he could do to contain himself when he turned and wrapped his arms around the other man’s middle, pulling a giggle out of him. 

Suga rolled his eyes and reciprocated the hug over Daichi’s shoulders. “It wasn’t bad,” he hummed, rubbing at Daichi’s back. “Though, that might just be because you didn’t have time to do anything... I chose that spot for a reason, you see?”

Daichi nodded, understanding after he gave it a few moments of thought. Whatever the reason, he was happy to hear his performance had been of an acceptable level. There was a tug in his gut, though, and only one thing could satiate that uncomfortable coil. “Can I kiss you now?” he asked, nosing against Suga’s cheek with a smile. “Let me kiss you~”

“A few kisses never killed anyone, I suppose,” the other man chuckled. He hummed a quiet sound of content as one such kiss was immediately pressed into his skin. More giggles crept out, and before he knew it, Daichi had kissed his way down Suga's neck and back up from the underside of his chin. All the way to the small patch of skin below his bottom lip. He muttered against it.

“Suga.”

“Hmm~?”

Daichi shrugged and stole several more kisses along the stretch of Suga's jaw. He stopped when he reached his ear and pouted. “You didn't say it back, you know,” he sighed.

“What's that, dove?”

Daichi grinned then, pressing his lips toward Suga's earlobe. There was barely a touch between them, Daichi's breathing and the punctuation of his words giving the illusion of pressure only when he spoke. “You didn't say you love me.”

“Mm… Didn't I?”

Daichi shook his head and pulled away, dragging his lips over the curve of Suga's cheek as he did so. “I'm still waiting, Count Sugawara.”

“Daichi.”

“Yes~?”

“I love you, dove.”

Daichi's chest felt full to bursting, and the request was out before he even knew what he was saying. “Again?”

His smile was guaranteed when Suga moved a hand to cup one of Daichi's cheeks, affection at his fingertips. “I love you~”

Daichi touched his smile against Suga's and asked once more. “And again?”

Suga leaned into the barely there embrace, enough to make sure their noses touched as well. “I will say that I love you, Sawamura Daichi,” he cooed. 

It was then, after hearing his full name, that Daichi realized he still had no idea what Suga's was. But he didn't have the time to entertain the thought of asking. Suga’s smile had morphed into a tender kiss, the likes of which rendered him useless in mere seconds. There was a hint of copper on his tongue, and it sent shivers down Daichi’s spine. A fire was in his gut. Set by the ceaseless heat in his veins, he felt the burn all the way to his very soul, sizzling along beside excitement and intrigue. 

With a gentle push and incessant pressure, Daichi guided Suga down to the mattress. His hands were careful, bracing the way with subsequent steps until they were both horizontal. His touches were soft, urgent but uncertain as he brushed away the hair from Suga’s face and cupped his cheek and jaw in a calloused palm. The arms around his neck were what sold Daichi on what was happening, finally, and he nearly giggled at the thought.

“This morning I couldn’t move when you just had your hands on my face,” he observed, a proud gleam in his eye as he pulled away. “You could just throw me onto the floor right now, couldn’t you?”

Suga huffed at the sudden stop, but he nodded all the same. “Yes~”

Daichi’s small smile simply stretched, unable to contain the rush of gratification. “You’re letting me do this?”

Suga hummed quietly to himself, fingering at the fold in his cravat. Moments later, he gave Daichi a tiny smirk of his own. “For now~” he drawled as he tugged the lace-trimmed cloth free. He set it to the side and waved Daichi down with a beckoning curl of his fingers. Providing assistance where necessary, Suga worked with him, letting Daichi kiss down his shoulder and over his collarbones as his shirt was peeled away.

He’d made it all the way down Suga’s chest when he noticed something peculiar about his undead paramour. He nibbled and kissed down to the other man’s navel with a hand dragging behind him, only to let it come to rest over Suga’s chest. “I wouldn't think you had a heartbeat,” he muttered against the soft, supple skin of his belly.

“I don’t,” Suga chuckled. He knew Daichi had taken interest with the static movement of his chest, so he pushed the topic to the side, promising instead to explain it later if Daichi still cared. The offer was taken for what it was, and Suga was left to enjoy the gentle nips and kisses at his skin. They sent shivers up his spine and short tremors down his arms, only to end up lost in the sheets tangled between his fingers. His mind had turned to mush long before Daichi appeared above him once more with a goofy grin on his face.

“Yes, dove~?”

At some point, Daichi had gotten rid of his shirt as well and was taking his precautions not to get too close. “Is my trinity going to burn you or anything crazy like that?”

Suga rushed a hand to his mouth to hold back a soft snort, almost forgetting about the heavy rings there for all his other upper nakedness. “Your what??” he snickered.

Daichi brought his hand forward, holding the pendant that would hang down to Suga’s chest from the silver chain around his neck if he’d let it. Suga had gotten a few glances here and there, but he was genuinely surprised to see just how much detail was on it. A small Jesus figure was to be expected, but there was another man behind him, arms outstretched behind the crucifix, with a small dove in flight above his head at the very top.

“That’s an awful lot for two inches of metal.”

Daichi gave it a small shake. “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit~” he explained. “Do they need to take a backseat, or are they allowed to witness our wrongdoings?” 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Suga chuckled. To prove it, he reached for Daichi’s face and brought him back down for a kiss, only flinching at the cold feel of silver against his chest when it came into contact with his skin. “I was born like this~ I didn’t make any deals with the devil; your iconography won’t hurt me, dove… I wear crosses too, albeit for fashion’s sake.”

Glad to hear it, Daichi pulled his hand out from between them and returned Suga’s kiss in just as much earnest. Without the worry, he fell right back into tasting and teasing with heavy kisses and fleeting kisses and kisses that made Suga forget Daichi needed to breathe. They grew longer with each passing second, more desperate after every swipe between tongue and lips and teeth that managed to match up amidst the grabbing and grasping. Minutes later they were a messy mass of limbs and moans, sweat and spit binding them together at any given point where their bodies met.

In the aftermath of their short session of love, Daichi was sprawled out on his stomach trying to catch his breath again while Suga took it upon himself to get their clothes picked up off the floor. He folded Daichi’s and laid them out on the chair, tugging his pants back on before turning towards the balcony and calling for Iwaizumi to join them again. 

Daichi snickered into the pillow he’d confiscated, not at all concerned that his bare butt was still in the air. “I forgot he was here,” he admitted with a choppy sigh.

Suga hummed, draping the comforter over Daichi’s nearly naked form before Iwaizumi was fully in view again. “Hajime is always where I am.”

“Why is that?” Daichi asked, turning to get a look at the two of them. His curiosity died off in exchange for the hilarity he found in the set of Iwaizumi’s features. 

“Really?” the Dhampir chuffed. “You couldn’t have waited until you’d gotten dressed first?”

Suga rolled his eyes, not even willing to dignify the misplaced outrage. He opted to answer Daichi’s question instead as he laced his shirt back up. “Hajime is my ward; I’m to look after him until he begins his transformation,” he explained. “Get used to seeing him.”

Daichi spared Iwaizumi an analytical stare, put off at the expression he found. Apparently, this transformation wasn’t something he liked talking about. Which was just as well; Daichi had other things on his mind. “Suga?”

“Hmm?” He turned to give Daichi his full attention, only partially divided as he tied his hair back up.

“I’m going to be your donor now, right?”

Though saying as much out loud embarrassed him to no end, Suga had learned long ago that things needed to be said, laid out cut and dry, for Daichi to consider them fact. “Yes, dove,” he chuckled once his ponytail had been secured with a neat bow. “If you still want to after that.”

“You say that like any of it was bad,” he balked. Daichi was already kind of annoyed at how Suga didn’t seem the least bit winded or affected by the tumble they’d taken in the sheets. He didn’t need him putting down what was probably the most fun he’d had since the last workshop he and Oikawa had attended on arrangements. 

Suga was quick to shake his head. “No, no, no,” he sighed, doing up his cuffs. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it~ By now, I’m sure you’ve noticed the very distinct difference in exhaustion between the two of us, yes?”

Daichi scoffed. “Yeah, actually.”

“That will happen every time.”

“... Is this not from the sex?”

Suga shook his head, holding his giggles under his tongue when Iwaizumi gagged and turned away from their conversation. “It is not,” he said with a fond smile. “I promise you’ll get a full rundown from one of us very soon, but you will always need a good sleep afterward. That’s why we do it at nighttime~”

“But I don’t want to go to sleep,” Daichi whined after he sucked his teeth in indignation. “I just got home… I still need to eat… I smell like dirt...”

“Just take a nap, and I’ll make you hotcakes when you wake.”

“Can you cook?”

The innocence of the question gave Suga an uneasy feeling, but he settled it for the time being. He and Iwaizumi had already agreed to clue Daichi in on all things Vampiric; it would just take some time. “I can do a lot of things, dove,” he explained, nothing but affection in his tone. “I lived until I was almost thirty before I was reborn. I’ve been twenty-seven for quite a while.”

“Like... two hundred years?”

“Not quite,” Suga giggled. “Almost, though.”

Daichi nodded, his head heavy and eyelids too droopy to keep open. “Tell me later?”

“Of course,” Suga agreed. 

“... Suga.”

“Hmm?”

“Flowers for you… by the door,” Daichi mumbled. His words were turning to mush against the pillow, but someone needed to get the little yellow plants out of harm’s way. “Forsythia branches… I’m excited.”

“Thank you, dove,” Suga cooed before promising to grab them. “Now get some sleep.” He leaned over to press a kiss against Daichi’s cheek, happy to hear the soft sounds of snoring had already set in by the time he pulled away. 

Iwaizumi waited until they were a little deeper, just a bit more convincingly labored, before he said anything. “You know Dad’s going to insist on meeting him now, right?” 

“I am well aware, yes,” Suga sighed. He didn’t want to think about that right then, however, and focused his thoughts on the next few weeks and how he and Daichi would spend them. His secret was out, and he had been accepted despite that. All in all, Suga was just looking forward to having a companion he didn’t have to bite his tongue around. Daichi meeting his father and the implications that carried could all wait until the time came to worry about them. 

"Hajime?"

"Yeah?"

"Have some tea with me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long ass wait-- my computer was in the shop. I am back with a laptop and keyboard and strokes that don't take eighty years to match the speed of my thoughts lmao 
> 
> Also, changing the prediction of 10 chapters. This thing is growing out of control and has already spawned what WILL be a companion/sequel after its conclusion. I don't know if will be more than 10 chapters, but it's looking like it might haha


	6. Holly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~~This chapter is too long. Apologies.~~  
>  **EDIT:** I made the cut. It needed to be done lol You'll see that 'last scene' next chapter, I promise.

The few nights that Suga and Daichi had been spending together became a thing of the past in a matter of days. With no real secrets between them, Suga could take his days however he wanted, and Daichi as his donor meant there wasn't a single night they had to be apart. Unless someone wanted a break, for whatever reason.

It was one of the few perks left of being in a somewhat casual relationship. When the time for space came, they both still had their own place to go back to. Suga did, at least. Daichi still hadn't been invited into his home away, six months into dating him, because simply put, Suga just didn't see the point. He'd even said as much, and Daichi wasn't sure how to take it.

Which was why he asked Oikawa for his illustrious opinion on the matter while they did some winter window shopping. He immediately regretted that decision, hearing what his friend had to say.

“Sounds to me like he doesn't want you over,” was Oikawa's genius deduction.

Daichi rolled his eyes, blowing over his hot chocolate. He spared the time it took for him to have two sips, in case Oikawa wanted to redeem himself. An attempt never came.

“I doubt that's what it is,” Daichi sighed as he came off his drink.

Oikawa scoffed, tossing his coiffed curls with a flick of his fingers. “Well what else could it possibly be?” he countered. He stopped to get a look at a pair of boots that had caught his eye before going on. “You don't let people into your home because one, it's dirty, or two, you don't want them there. That's kind of it unless it's some kind of cultural thing? But other than his frilly little capes, he doesn't seem to be out of the loop, now, does he...? And he looks about as pristine as porcelain, so I don't think his place is unkempt.”

“Oh…” All things considered, Daichi hadn't even weighed on the possibility that it could be a cultural matter. They'd been spending so much time together, it never occurred to him that Suga might not be completely adjusted to the ‘modern’ world. Discounting the fact that he was bred and raised to be a Vampire, something that Daichi still overlooked from time to time, Suga originated in a completely different time period. One of which Daichi had zero comprehension. He'd gained a significant amount of knowledge on Vampires, sure, but the Victorian age and area were well lost on him.

And Suga's reasoning could have come from either of those components of his past. Vampires still were a subject Daichi had only recently gotten into, never mind his loose grasp, at best, on history that wasn't within the last few decades. “You might actually be right...”

“Oh~?” Oikawa arched a brow, preening at the very thought of Daichi accepting his explanation for any phenomenon. “Now there's a rare sight! It's about time you realized I know what I'm talking about.”

“Yes, you’re the best,” Daichi chuckled. He didn’t have the heart to tell his friend that he was actually agreeing with one of the points that had been shot down. It wouldn’t hurt to let Oikawa stroke his ego every now and then. “What ever would I do without you and your wise words?”

Oikawa caught some sarcasm on the end of that one, but he let it go in favor of enjoying his moment to bask in the grace of giving good advice, if it could even be called that. “Put them to use, Daichi. I mean, if he won’t take you home, could you maybe try to learn the boy’s name?” He sniffed, looking away with an innocent flick of his eyes when he saw a glare coming his direction. “At least then, you could look him up...”

Daichi gave up trying to bore a hole into Oikawa’s head after a few seconds of nothing happening from his zeroed in gaze. He snorted to himself, throwing his scowl into another window. It was stuffed with plush toys and dolls, trains, and even a few electronics out on display for the gift giving season. “Why are you always trying to start a fight between us?”

“I am not! I say you’re moving too fast for giving him a key to your place-- one time!-- and suddenly I’m a homewrecker.”

The mock outrage was enough to get Daichi chuckling again, and his aggravation melted away in the next instant. “Drama queen,” he sighed, a smile still tugging at his lips. He only got a giggle in return, but he knew there was no harm meant other than some mild meddling that didn’t amount to much. “And the name thing just never came up… I don’t know why I even told you.”

“Because you feel weird calling him a nickname in bed, isn’t it?”

Daichi steeled his face, cheeks ruddy, but jaw set proud all the same. “Yep. That’s it. Thank you, Oikawa; I had forgotten.”

“How do you not know, though?” Oikawa continued to prattle despite Daichi’s blatant embarrassment. They were coming into familiar territory with the flower shop just a few blocks down. “Isn’t that part of an introduction? ‘Hello! My name is Oikawa Tooru. And you? Sawamura Daichi. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you~’ Right??”

Daichi shrugged, the flush on his cheeks dying away as the conversation moved along. Oikawa’s crappy impression of him was embarrassing enough to make him feel better. “I didn’t even get ‘Suga’ until the third time I saw him.”

“And you gave him a key to your place..? Have you always had such blind faith in people?”

“Probably.”

Oikawa giggled again, and Daichi joined him. He finished off his hot chocolate afterward, tossing the empty cup into the first trash can that came up on the street. “I’ll ask him~ It’s an easier request than, ‘hey, mind if I go to your house?’ after all.”

Oikawa nodded, eyes locked, once again on an object of interest. He kept it to himself for the moment, though, unsure if his assumption was correct. He’d wait until they were a little closer to the shop to say anything. “When are you going to do it?”

“Mm… Next time I see him, I guess,” Daichi concluded with a soft hum. “Why are you so interested?”

“Well, I spy with my little eye, someone pale and lacy,” Oikawa cooed. He pressed his fingers together for a few seconds while Daichi looked around, awed at his friend’s knack for spotting his boyfriend when they were out together. “He’s at our place of employment with what looks like a spook.”

Hearing that, Daichi turned his strained attention towards the flower shop. He let loose yet another little laugh when he too spotted Suga not far off, chatting it up with his ward. “That’s Iwaizumi,” he clarified. He couldn’t see as well as Oikawa, but that was the only logical conclusion. “I almost never see them apart.”

“Sounds rough.” Oikawa would have been happy to leave it at that, but the closer they got, the harder it was to let the subject go. Daichi hadn’t said anything else about that Iwaizumi person, but Oikawa certainly wanted to. “Who is he??”

Daichi shrugged, hemming and hawing for a few extra moments to figure out his wording. “He’s kind of like… under Suga’s wing?” It wasn’t the best, but he decided to roll with it. “I don’t know. It’s kind of like a buddy system thing his family does. Iwaizumi is actually his driver during the day.”

Oikawa nodded along as Daichi tried to explain. He smacked his lips, the sound loud and harsh enough to draw the attention of the two men they were approaching who were still some twenty yards off. “Well! I apologize for every snide comment I’ve ever made about your boyfriend.”

Daichi snorted into his hand, smothering a laugh. “What...? Why that all the sudden?”

“He clearly keeps good company and is not involved in anything that is even the slightest bit shady.”

“Are you talking about Iwaizumi??” Daichi snickered. “You just called him a spook!”

“All I saw was a suit from fifty yards; sue me.”

“Oh, my God.”

Oikawa ignored him and shooed the disbelief with a wave of his hand. “Just introduce me, Daichi, please. Be a good wingman.”

Daichi shook his head, wondering which life decisions led to this awful moment. “I can’t just give you his phone number and be done with it?”

“No!” Oikawa gasped, genuinely offended. “I work for my affairs, thank you. I will get his number with my own charms and charisma.”

“Wow. Yes, good luck with that.” Daichi didn’t offer any further explanation before returning the eager wave he got from Suga as they closed in. He came to a stop, making sure he and Oikawa both were clear of the door before getting comfortable and saying hello. “Fancy seeing you here~”

“I promise I wasn’t looking,” Suga said with an apologetic smile. “Had some shopping to do… You know how it is.”

“Ah, for your mom again?”

It tickled him a bit that Daichi would mention such a thing, but Suga shook his head, a placid smile in place. “Not this time, no.”

Daichi nodded, but a grunt fell out soon after. He didn’t even get the chance to vocally respond before Oikawa was clearing his throat and nudging him a little too hard with his foot. “Yeah… Suga, you’ve already met him, but Iwaizumi, this is my friend Oikawa,” he said, smacking the back his hand into Oikawa’s chest with more force than necessary. “Oikawa~! This is Iwaizumi.”

To be polite, Iwaizumi lifted a hand in greeting, but he left it at that. He wasn't too interested in getting to know this man with the face scrunched in pain. Oikawa had very different plans, though, and pulled that hand into a shake.

“Hi there~” he cooed, gesturing to himself with his other hand. “I’m Oikawa Tooru. It’s very nice to meet you…?”

“... Iwaizumi,” the Dhampir said, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. Daichi had just announced his name a few moments ago. “Nice to meet you.”

It put a bit of a damper on Oikawa’s planned path to romance. “Oh…” he sounded, taking his hand back when it was released. “Sorry for doubting you, Daichi.”

The man in question decided it was in everyone’s best interest to get the conversation moving again before Iwaizumi had the time to be offended. “Well, you and I were supposed to spend this day apart, and yet, here we are,” he chuckled, chin lifted in Suga's direction.

He simply shrugged, smile still in place as his parasol bobbed behind him. “I got what I needed, already,” he sighed. “We were just deciding on whether or not to head home… I wanted to go back to your place, but someone has to receive a delivery at mine--”

“Why don't we go?” 

Suga chirped, unclear on Daichi’s question. “Go where?”

“I’ll go to your house with you,” he explained with what he hoped was a nonchalant shrug. His heart rate had pitched at the sudden suggestion. “Iwaizumi can take Oikawa home, so he doesn’t feel abandoned… I didn’t really have plans after dropping him off at his place anyway.”

Oikawa, heart soaring at the prospects, was all for it. “I don’t mind handing him over, Suga~” he cooed. He didn’t know much in the way of appealing to this particular person, but he seemed like the sensible, sensitive type. Being cute usually went over well on those kinds. But his dreams were dashed moments later.

“No thanks,” Iwaizumi said with a heavy breath. “Sorry, but I’m not interested in chauffeuring strangers.” He frowned then, but it wasn’t out of anger. He looked more disappointed than anything else. “And you know better, Sawamura. I’m not supposed to--”

“Hajime?”

As though bristles had grown on his tongue, Iwaizumi stopped. He barely moved his head to cut his gaze over to Suga, already not liking where things were going. “Sugawara.”

Suga just smiled his simple smile and gave his ward a soft nudge with his foot. “Why don't you take Oikawa home?”

“Because I don't want to, and I'd appreciate you not lording over me.” Iwaizumi sighed then, seeing clear uncaring scribbled all over Suga’s fake ass smile. He put his hands together in front of his chest and took a deep breath. “I am genuinely asking you not to be a jerk about this.”

A pout took over in an instant, and Iwaizumi knew it was a lost cause. He dropped his hands, a scowl etched into his features as he turned his face toward the sky to await the inevitable.

It came in a singsong tune that sealed his fate. “Please take him home, Hajime? I’m sure Oikawa would appreciate not having to walk,” Suga reasoned. 

He couldn’t fight it anymore, so Iwaizumi just started to cross the street over to where the car was parked. Over his shoulder, he sent Suga a threatening finger. “I’m telling the old man that you’re taking advantage of me.”

“I’ll be waiting for his call~” Suga chuckled under his breath when he heard Iwaizumi suck his teeth from the middle of the road. “You should get after him before he makes you walk behind the car,” he added in a stage whisper to Oikawa.

Daichi waited until his friend was clearly out of earshot before throwing out a question that had been burning the back of his tongue for a few weeks. “Why do you do that?”

“What’s that?” Suga asked. He started off towards his home in the opposite direction.

Daichi fell into step beside him once he’d caught up. He thought it was obvious, but he also knew Suga liked to play coy with subjects he just didn’t think were important or worth the effort. Daichi was convinced it was the latter. “I get making him take Oikawa home since I… kind of asked for it.” He winced and hoped that Iwaizumi would forgive him. “But Hajime…? I think it’s safe to say that he hates it.”

“Mm… But we all do, to an extent.”

Daichi felt a slap of panic that left just as quickly as it came. Startled though he was at the foreign emotion, he brushed it off and pressed Suga for an explanation. “You all hate the name Hajime, or…?”

Suga spun his parasol, unsure where to look as he considered his options. He’d removed soft lies from his repertoire of responses as far as Daichi was concerned, but this was a touchy subject. What if it Daichi wanted more information after he explained? What if that was used against him later? Not that he felt Daichi would ever do such a thing; he was much nicer than Suga himself was. But even still, it was a very real possibility. 

“If it’s that big of a deal, don’t worry about it.”

A stunned sniff was the first sound Suga made after his thoughts had been brought to a halt. “I’m sorry?”

Daichi shrugged, a short chuckle following soon after. “I can tell when you’re silently freaking out over there,” he said. His gaze was focused on the pavement, uncertain of his steps on an unfamiliar route. “I can kind of… feel it? But if you really don’t want to tell me, then you don’t have to. I’m already going to your house when you don’t want me there.”

“Who says I don’t want you there?” Suga asked, an audible hurt trickling into his words like water through a throng of pebbles.

Daichi sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, warm in the wintry weather and focus shifting to and fro as Oikawa’s answer came back to haunt him. “That’s not what I meant.”

“That’s what you said.”

“I know.” Daichi wanted to shrug, but his shoulders felt too heavy. He figured he’d steal a glance at Suga and see if a response came to him, but all he got was a pained expression he hadn’t seen on that powdery face before. It hurt his heart to look at it, so he didn’t, tearing his eyes away the instant he felt a cracking somewhere in his chest. “Sorry. Forget about it.”

Suga took a breath he didn’t need and held it, thinking. He’d been true to his word on having himself and Iwaizumi explain things to Daichi as they came. There were even some days where all they did was talk about Vampires and how certain things worked. Yet even still, there were a few subjects Suga had taken the precautions to ask Iwaizumi not to expand upon. Certain areas he didn’t want to be explored for the sake of keeping a little distance in case Daichi changed his mind and wanted to back out of this relationship they’d stumbled into. 

As the months wore on, however, the superfluous topics were dying out. Daichi had a better grasp on the workings of the undead than any occultist Suga had crossed paths with. He knew most of the jargon and many of the customs; he could mind his manners if ever a guest decided to drop in and impose. But there were a few things still out of his reach. Family structure, relationships, names, homes, all things that would make him a semi-permanent fixture in Suga’s life. Something that would hurt him, if he had to see it go. 

Although, he supposed that was just the reality of loving someone. 

“He hates it because Hajime is his given name,” Suga began, voice just a little tight with nerves. “First name, given name… Whatever you so choose to call it. It is not the one he picked. All of us have one, obviously. A person’s parents name them if they are still around.”

Daichi nodded, ears still hot. The excitement of having Suga open up and lecture to him was something he was sure would never wear thin, and he didn’t want to chance cutting it short by interrupting. 

Seeing that he was understood, Suga continued. “Well… That being the case, it carries a certain… weight. You may notice that he doesn’t use mine; that is because he doesn’t know what it is.”

That one, Daichi could not ignore. “Wait, seriously?” 

“Yes. As a younger brother, there is no inherent reason for him to know.”

That one punched Daichi in the chest. “Iwaizumi is your brother??” 

The tingle over his skin was real and had never in his life or undeath been matched, but Suga nodded and pressed on all the same. “Quite honestly, it’s brutish of me to invoke his name as often as I do, but he pays me no heed, otherwise. He is a rather unruly sort, all things considered.”

“No judgment,” Daichi soothed. He reached out to pat Suga’s elbow in solidarity. “Strictly curiosity, I promise.”

Suga nodded, though he didn’t so much as spare Daichi a glance. “At any rate… That’s what it does. If a person is to call our name, we are made to do their bidding. It’s a shackle we’re all born with, so it’s understandable why he hates it. Truth be told, I shouldn’t be saying his name in front of other people, to begin with... Father will truly be cross if he does catch wind of it.”

Hearing talk of the mystery man once again, Daichi’s questions were reloaded and ready for fired. “You guys are really brothers?”

“Our father is one in the same,” Suga offered with a meek sigh. “We are both born of his blood and effort.”

Daichi nodded, but he shook his head moments later. “You don’t have the same name though?”

“Ah. Unlike you all, we do pick one of our names when we are able.” Suga paused for a moment, crossing the last street before he went on. “That is why we, more often than not, refer to them as monikers rather than surnames. Or family names. We do have family names, but they are more like… what people imagine the mafia to be? He and I are descendants of Crow. Or, as is more common to hear, Scions of Crow... He is Iwaizumi Hajime of the Coven Crow, yes?”

Daichi nodded, though he couldn’t be seen. Suga had since taken the lead to head up a small set of steps toward what he could only assume was the man’s front door. Daichi’s heart had split and migrated to either of his ears as he watched, straining to listen. When no other example came, he didn’t even consider trying to stop himself. “And you would be...?”

Suga, who had been fiddling with his keys, did not falter. He did not stumble, and there was no uncertainty in his fingers as he shook out the right one and got the door open. When he stepped in and turned in the doorway, Daichi was fully expecting to have it slammed in his face. He’d just been told how serious knowing such a thing was, and yet he’d blurted out the question so expectantly, like a high school student looking to make friends with the first pretty classmate they’d come across. 

All that met him was a smile, though. One that welcomed him inside with an open arm and a voice that he’d never get tired of hearing. “I am the second son and fourth Scion of Crow, Sugawara Koushi. Please, come in.” Those words came down to lead him up the stairs in a tone that told him Suga had squashed the squabble with his inner demons on sharing such a delicate secret, and Daichi felt a flutter of happiness just under his ribs. 

“You’ve got holly on your door?”

“I’m a happy man,” he chuckled.

He made quick work of following Suga inside, taking care to also follow his host’s example and remove his shoes at the door. He was fighting with one of his boots when Suga posed a question after hanging his parasol on the wall with several others, including a few that Daichi had never seen. “What makes you think I didn’t want you to call me?”

Daichi, having been presented many an occasion where he didn’t entirely understand Suga, set to work in his attempts to figure out what that meant. Context clues said Suga had tried to ask before and probably didn’t get the answer he was looking for… “Oh! Because you told me so.”

Suga balked for half a second before crossing his arms in a huff. “I did no such thing.”

“Well… Maybe not in so many words,” Daichi chuckled with half a shrug. Finally free of his clingy footwear, he stood removed his jacket and tossed it over the rack by the door among many cloaks and coats. 

“In no words,” Suga insisted.

“You said you didn’t see the point in having me over.”

“Well, that’s because I didn’t… And I still don’t,” he added as he took the lead once again. Suga showed Daichi through the foyer into an entertainment room that opened up into a kitchen and dining area behind a low partition. He waved Daichi over to an island counter with stools as he rambled. “I don’t even have food… Not real food. Cake and tea, since that’s what I like, but that’s it.”

Daichi decided to give Suga a few minutes to work out his offended outrage in silence. It gave him time to take in what a breathtaking apartment Suga was giving up for his own crappy place. It was huge with tall windows hidden behind dark, heavy drapes and warm stone floors that were gratuitously covered with plush rugs of an ornate nature. The furniture looked overstuffed and polished to the point of perfection in every grain of the wood. There were two fireplaces that he could spot from his perch, and each hearth matched the brickwork on the outside of the corner townhouse. 

Cozy though all that was, nothing was so inviting as the many vases and arrangements of flowers and other flora spotting the place. Baskets on top of cabinets, bouquets on display atop the different end tables, and centerpieces on all the primary fixtures. There were even a few hanging from the ceiling, and Daichi had to wonder why Suga would ever leave this place for days on end.

“Suga.”

“Yes?” Though he’d been ranting softly to himself as he pulled out a devil’s food cake from the fridge and got to slicing, Suga had no qualms stopping when Daichi wanted to be part of the conversation again.

With his attention, Daichi looked around once more to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “What is actually the deal?”

Suga leaned in, waiting for more. He looked around to see if there was anything out of place, but that couldn’t be it. It was Daichi’s first time ever being there. “I’m sorry, dove, but I do not follow.”

“Why in God’s name do you stay at my place?”

It was enough to have him in fits. Suga had to set the knife down for safety, leaning on the counter top with his elbows as giggles wracked his frame. “What?”

“Look at this!” Arms wide open above his head, Daichi pivoted at the waist to show off the entire space in general. “Have you seen my place?? I have one chair! You have three in that room alone… And two couches!”

“But, dove~” Suga giggled, melting into place as his anxiety from before was run out by Daichi’s astonishment. “Your place is so much more lived in. I like being there.”

Daichi sucked his teeth and smacked the counter lightly. “That is a lie.”

“It’s not.”

“It is.” Daichi frowned, disapproval squat on his brow. “I know that the echo bothers you. Iwaizumi told me. And you don’t like the floors either. Because they’re wood.”

Suga hummed, hunching forward to raise his shoulders in a shrug. “I really do like it, despite all that... It feels like someone lives there, unlike this place which feels like an antique shop. Or a crematorium… Your floors creak in spots because you walk the same paths day in and day out… I can hear the weather, too, which is nice. I like to listen to the rain when you’re sleeping… Plus, my place smells like a retirement home, and yours smells like all kinds of things. Sometimes it smells like a rainforest, other times it smells like what you’re cooking. Which I also love, by the way,” he added with a barely hidden chuckle. “I greatly enjoy coming around the corner to see you hard at work in the kitchen with just your pants on.”

“I don’t think I am ever just wearing pants, Suga,” Daichi countered with a chuckle of his own.

Suga lifted his hands, smile still in place. “Excuse me. Boxers is what you call them~”

That was enough to turn him red, and Daichi simply looked away. Arguments were a thing of the past, and he couldn’t think of a single response. So he decided not to debate the topic and instead brought up a new one. “Well… even if that’s true, what’s up with this, then?”

“Dove, please.”

“This place obviously cost a fortune.”

“Maybe?”

Daichi sucked his teeth, finding the nerve to square up with Suga again. “I see you all day, almost every day, and you don’t go to that… tea place anymore.”

“Right you are,” Suga said with a content coo as he went back to cutting Daichi and himself a slice of cake. He set them on a single between the two of them before pulling out two forks and handing one to Daichi. “But what of it?”

Daichi waited until he’d swallowed his first bite of cake before posing what he felt to be an obvious question. “Where does your money come from?”

“Ahh… I see.” Suga hummed over a bite of his own. He took another as he explained. “First, I think you should know that I did not receive any compensation for my time at AmanTea. The different families pay them for being able to use the place… It’s as much a business for the Vampires as it is for the clients. As for where my money does come from… Well, the easy answer is that it’s my allowance.”

Daichi didn't want to believe that at first, turning the word over in his head a few times to consider it. In the end, he figured it made some sense. The way Suga bought gifts for his mother and spoke of his father, how Iwaizumi threatened to tell on him, the fact that Suga was somewhat stressed enough to mention possible consequences. And then it dawned on him.

“You guys are a bunch of children.”

It was the simplest simplification he'd ever heard made of it, but Suga smiled. “Yes, I suppose you could say that. Though, I prefer to think of us as ‘dependants,’ personally.”

Daichi was still reeling just a bit at the revelation. “You're so immature! Iwaizumi is going to tattle on you for being a bully, Suga.”

“Ah… Don't remind me, please,” he sighed. Suga's larger teeth slipped out in the small bout if distress now that he knew he was safe in his own home. Still, it didn't distract him enough that he couldn't pay Daichi his attention. “Don't think that I can't hear you smirking, either. I'm glad you find it so amusing.”

“But you're so old,” Daichi stressed. He'd been found out, so there was no reason to hold back his snickers. “This is such a petty squabble~”

“All squabbling amongst blood is petty…” He didn't get a chance to extrapolate as a chime resounded through the cozy house. Suga clicked his tongue and fingered at one of his fangs. It wouldn’t go back in. “Would you please sign for my package, dove?”

Still the slightest bit giddy, Daichi slid from his seat and went to answer the door. A woman read off the name on the label to him, and he accepted with a somewhat legible signature before a box of considerate size was handed over to him. It wasn't heavy, but he could tell it was stuffed to the brim by the lack of movement he felt from inside. There was no return address, but he assumed Suga knew who had sent it based on the fact that he knew when to be home for its receipt.

Daichi readied to announce his return, but hearing Suga speaking aloud was enough to stop his tongue. Which was just as well; once he'd made it to his seat again, he noticed his boyfriend was chattering away on the phone and sounding rather put out by all of it. He set the package on the counter and waited for Suga, who had thanked him with a quick nod. Daichi had cake to eat anyhow.

“Yes, yes, I'm well aware,” Suga said. He let out a soft groan as he rolled his eyes at something he must have heard a thousand and ten times. “No. I've raised many a Dhampir to transition; there's nothing stressful about it… It's only ever in front of my donor. Iwa’s being overly sensitive because he doesn't want to listen to me is all.” 

Daichi raised an eyebrow at that, but hearing Suga suck his teeth, he knew not to remark on anything just yet.

“That was just once, and it happened today. It’s not as though I run around town shouting his name at every soul we pass,” Suga huffed. He'd since resigned himself to the counter, an arm folded under his chest to support his body. He was being scolded, no doubt, and it lasted a few good minutes. “Yes, I'll tell him. Yes... You have my word. I will.” 

He let out a heavy sigh, and Daichi could only assume their disagreement had been resolved. He was sure when Suga pulled the box over and nodded along with the other end of the conversation, slicing through the packing tape with a ring that didn't seem to be cut hard enough to do so.

“I just received it,” he said. Suga tossed the flaps open to inspect the contents. Daichi had long since come to terms with the fact that if Suga did blush, it was near impossible to see unless it was something severe. Daichi could tell when his ears tingled, though, a slight twitch giving it away every time. “Was this entirely necessary? I am more than capable of following a dress code.”

Again Suga rolled his eyes, this time with a pout that sat heavy on his bottom lip. He looked chuffed, but not enough to complain any further about the matter. “I understand, yes... Mhm, love you dearly. Tell the other two I send my best, please.”

The moment the call ended, Suga scoffed and tossed his phone into the box. He stewed for a few moments, mood visibly dampened. The scrape of Daichi's fork against the plate as he finished his slice of cake caught his attention, though, and Suga was reminded that he was in the presence of company.

“My apologies, dove,” he sighed with one hand holding up his slumping face, the other tapping at the counter top. “It seems young Iwa truly did blow the whistle on me.”

“Ooh, Iwa..? Suga got in trouble,” Daichi teased from the other side of the box. He didn't feel bad about giggling when Suga sent him a dubious smile. “What did you get?”

Suga hummed and stood up straight once more. To save any chance of making a mess, he placed his fork next to unfinished cake and waved away his rights to it. “Father sent his choice of attire for his upcoming gala. He always hosts one in winter.”

“Mm… Like a Christmas party?” Daichi asked around another mouthful of chocolate now that he had another slice to eat.

Suga shrugged. “Not your Christmas.”

“And he sent an outfit?” His voice wobbled on the last word, and Suga rolled his eyes.

“Listen, you,” he chuckled. “Sires and Dams take care of their own. We'd be found out, otherwise.”

“I just think it's funny that a man spending his third century on this Earth has his daddy picking his clothes.”

Suga sighed, defeated. A smile lingered on his lips. “Well… You aren't completely wrong. It is somewhat infuriating, though. I have asked him time and time again not to do this kind of thing.”

“Suga?”

“Hm?” He looked tired when he looked up, and Daichi took a moment to reconsider his question. 

He smiled. “Are you going to show me this outfit?”

“You really want to see it?” Suga reached into the box and lifted out a band of black lace. It was a decorated filigree, compared to what Daichi had seen thus far in Suga’s collection. He could only assume it was a headband since a red rose had been woven in as an adornment. “He has a very questionable sense of fashion, even for us.”

Daichi, not wanting to be rude, nodded and rolled his lips in. He always thought Suga sort of looked like a doll, but that was a little overdoing it. “Questionable is a good word for it.”

Suga bumped his eyebrows in agreement. “Yes, well. This one, thankfully, is less of a chastity belt than the last was.”

“Yeah?” Daichi asked, unable to stop the snort.

“Yes.”

It was enough to let him know that it was time to change the subject. And it stayed changed, Daichi unsure how to bring up the one question burning holes in his gut every time he saw Suga or caught a glimpse of Iwaizumi lurking somewhere in a corner. Iwaizumi wasn’t the person to ask, and he got the timing just never seemed to come up with Suga. A week later, he was worried the opportunity might never arise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it took forever; my bad.  
> But also, I am realizing that I didn't plan this story out well and keep running into walls.  
> I'm going to finish it! But hopefully, the next one is better, haha~

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks a bunch to Ethril for being my beta reader in the beginning (ง'̀-'́)ง


End file.
